History Film / SetItOff1996

Also, the girls themselves once they begin robbing banks, but this is justified due to the bad breaks they suffer.

-->"'Cleo''': We ain't robbing stagecoaches! I need something I can set it off with.

* ForWantOfANail:
** If the girls had stuck to their own rules and left the final robbery once their time limit was up instead of delaying to steal more money, they probably would have got away before the police arrived.
** Had Frankie used her other hand to trip the alarm, she likely would not have been fired for breaching protocol and placed under suspicion.
** And had the SWAT Team holding Stony's brother at gunpoint actually taken a moment to identify ''what'' he was pulling out of his jacket, the confrontation would not have ended in his death and given Stony a motivation to throw her dice in with the original robbery plan.

Where Da White Women At?: The prostitute that Luther is seen having sex with is a blonde-haired white woman.

* WhatHaveIDone: Det. Strode has a moment like this after [[spoiler:Frankie is killed]], realizing his involvement in turning the girls to a life of crime, and allows Stoney to escape.

Hellish L.A: The film takes place in Los Angeles, California, and the central themes are poverty and crime.

Lower-Class Lout: Several examples. One is Lorenz and Darnell, obviously, who are seen robbing the bank that Frankie works at. Another is Lorenz's girlfriend, Tamika. She has no known occupation, but is clearly able to get her hair and nails done. Tamika is also the one who shaves the letters A.P.(for Acorn Projects) in the back of Stevie's head,despite the latter not being from said projects. Also,this was per Lorenz's suggestion, and could have been done to get the police off his own back. Also Luther, the girls' employer. Despite owning a janitorial company, he doesn't look very wealthy. That is, until he finds the money from the girls' bank robberies and steals it. Plus, Luther is NOT a nice person.

FourGirlEnsemble: Cleo is the straight-laced, streetwise one of the group,Stony is the Team Mom,(after all,she has been raising her younger brother since their parents died.) Frankie is the sexy one,and T.T is the sweet, naive one.

Four Girl Ensemble: Cleo is the straight-laced, streetwise one of the group,Stony is the Team Mom,(after all,she has been raising her younger brother since their parents died.) Frankie is the sexy one,and T.T is the sweet, naive one.

Frankie Sutton (Vivica A. Fox) is an ordinary bank teller who is unfortunate enough to be behind the desk on the day that a group of [[BankRobbery bank robbers]] hit her place of work. The robbery goes wrong, with several people, including one of the robbers, ending up dead. To make her day even worse, the bank fires her after the police [[GuiltByAssociation reveal that she knew one of the robbers in front of her boss.]] With no job, no money, and her life spiralling out of control, she joins her friends Cleo (Latifah), Stony (Pinkett), and T.T. (Elise) working meager, minimum wage jobs as janitors under their foul-mouthed, abusive boss Luther. After Stony's brother Stevie is gunned down and T.T.'s son is taken by the [=CPS=] after suffering an accident at her job, Frankie comes up with a plan to get them the finances they need to survive--by taking it from her former employers.

Frankie Sutton (Vivica A. Fox) is an ordinary bank teller who is unfortunate enough to be behind the desk on the day that a group of [[BankRobbery bank robbers]] hit her place of work. The robbery goes wrong, with several people, including one of the robbers, ending up dead. To make her day even worse, the bank fires her after the police [[GuiltByAssociation reveal that she knew one of the robbers in front of her boss.]] With no job, no money, and her life spiralling out of control, she joins her friends Cleo (Latifah), Stony (Pinkett), and T.T. (Elise) working meager, minimum wage jobs as janitors under their foul-mouthed, abusive boss Luther. After Stony's brother is gunned down and T.T.'s son is taken by the [=CPS=] after suffering an accident at her job, Frankie comes up with a plan to get them the finances they need to survive--by taking it from her former employers.

* AssholeVictim: The girls' {{jerkass}} employer Luther, who steals (and spends) some of the money from their second robbery. The girls track him down and attempt to force him to return what's left of their score, but are forced to kill him when he resists by pulling a gun, leaving the whereabouts of the money unknown.

* BeingEvilSucks: Most of the gang who take part in the opening bank robbery get killed. The girls never have a chance to benefit from their robberies. The proceeds of their second robbery are stolen before they can spend it, and rather than cutting their losses and just laying low until their trail goes cold, they end up killing the guy who took it before he can tell them where he stashed it and executing a third robbery soon after, with the police already dangerously close to catching them for the murder and the prior robberies.. Finally, [[spoiler:all but Stoney are killed]] before they can enjoy their final score.

** The women, particularly Frankie (who was the victim of the above) and Stonie are worse, since they see robbing banks as acceptable payback for being fired and losing a brother to police violence as opposed to suing for wrongful termination and wrongful death, respectively,.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: If Frankie's boss hadn't been so quick to fire her and Det. Strode's men had shown more discretion before shooting Stoney's brother, they might not have been so willing to go along with robbing banks.

* DidntThinkThisThrough:

* DisproportionateRetribution: Apparently knowing the person robbing the bank where you have worked faithfully for years and being too panicked to trip the alarm because you just saw an innocent woman get killed right in front of you is enough to get you fired and fingered as a possible accomplice to said robbery.
** The women, particularly Frankie (who was the victim of the above) and Stonie are worse, since they see robbing banks as acceptable payback for being fired and losing a brother to police violence, respectively.