Light It Up is a 1999 drama film starring Usher Raymond, Rosario Dawson, Forest Whitaker, and Vanessa L. Williams. The film was written and directed by Craig Bolotin, and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and his wife Tracy Edmonds. The film was released on November 10, 1999 and was rated R by the MPAA for "language and violent content."
Plot Summary
The film starts off in an inner city-neighborhood in Queens, New York, the events are narrated by Zacharias 'Ziggy' Malone (Robert Ri'chard), who introduces his former classmates/friends at Lincoln High School: Lester DeWitt (Usher), who lost his father; and hard-working Latin/African-American student Stephanie Williams (Rosario Dawson), who is ignoring Lester due to the fact that she does not want to go steady with him. Other characters include gangster/thug Rodney (Fredro Starr) who gets into fights with other students; rebellious classmate Lynn (Sara Gilbert) who is already a couple of months pregnant; and Rivers (Clifton Collins Jr.), a close friend of Lester and Ziggy.
The film later introduces police officer Dante Jackson (Forest Whitaker) as he tries to arrest Lester after a misunderstanding, and Ken Knowles (Judd Nelson), a kind, warm-hearted teacher whose class covers significant 20th century events. When the classroom's windows are broken by rocks, Mr. Knowles takes them to the principal's office, where Principal Allen Armstrong (Glynn Turman) tells Knowles to take them "anywhere".
Since there is no space any where in the school, Knowles and the kids go to a local diner, where a robbery takes place. Knowles confronts the robber, who was a former student that dropped out of school. Principal Armstrong is infuriated by what Knowles has done, and puts him on administrative leave. Lester, Stephanie and Ziggy are at the main office as Knowles leaves the school. Stephanie is disgusted that Principal Armstrong has ignored that he told Knowles to "take the class anywhere", Stephanie and Lester are suspended from school and Principal Armstrong calls in Officer Jackson to remove all of them. Ziggy decides to leave but Officer Jackson restrains him. This event is witnessed by other students at the school and soon everything turns into a small riot.
Lester tries to resist Officer Jackson and loses, but Ziggy picks up Officer Jackson's dropped Glock 19 pistol and says "I [Ziggy] cannot go home." The reason for this, is because Ziggy has been physically abused by his father for many years. Officer Jackson tries to restrain Ziggy but gets accidentally shot in the leg as he grabs for his gun. Principal Armstrong tells school security to call an ambulance and the N.Y.P.D. in order to arrest Ziggy. Lester then grabs the gun and orders everyone to evacuate the school. This finally forces the N.Y.P.D. detectives to come in, led by Detective Audrey McDonald (Vanessa L. Williams) as a negotiator.
Still waiting after a couple of hours, the group continues to hold Officer Dante Jackson against his will. Lester tells Dante about his how his father (Robert Lee Minor) was gunned down during a wrongful arrest. In the next few scenes, Rivers, Lynn, Rodney, Ziggy, Stephanie, and Lester are all becoming infamous across New York City, as they are exposed and identified on such networks such as BET, NBC, NY1 and CBS.
Debate continues as the events taking place, and the classmates suffer the loss of Ziggy, who is killed on the school's roof trying to save Lester's life from a sniper shot aimed at the back of his head. However, the narrator tells about what happened to the kids: Lester has gone off to a city college, Stephanie went to New York University[citation needed], Lynn had her baby boy (named after Ziggy) and is never heard from again, Rodney becomes a Muslim, Rivers joins the military, Officer Jackson testified what happened at the school, and Mr. Knowles still teaches history.
Setting
Although Light It Up was set in the inner city of Queens, the film was mostly shot at Calumet Career Prep High School in Chicago, Illinois, adding realistic sets to turn it into Queens.
Cast
Rosario Dawson was not Craig Bolotin's first choice to play Stephanie Williams, other celebrities auditioned for the role as Stephanie: Brandy, Mya, Reagan Gomez-Preston, Tatyana Ali. and Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, Mary J. Blige auditioned for the role as Detective Audrey McDonald.[citation needed]
Soundtrack
A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on October 26, 1999 by Elektra Records. It peaked at #19 on the Billboard 200 and #4 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
Reception
Light It Up was released on November 10, 1999; bringing in just under $6,000,000 at the domestic box office (slightly less than half its production budget). [2]
References
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lightitup.htm
- ^ Light it Up (1999)
External links
