Taglines: In the biggest situation in your life, How Far will you go to resist it?
Light It Up follows six teenage high school seniors who hold a wounded police officer hostage and barricade themselves inside the school. On a winter day in a southside Queens high school, events collide and six students are suddenly in an armed standoff with the NYPD. At the school, classrooms freeze, teachers come and go, resources are scant. When a popular teacher is suspended, a few students protest.
Jackson, a new security guard, gets tough. In a scuffle, Jackson’s wounded with his own gun and a student takes him hostage. A few kids join in, for various reasons. An ineffective policewoman tries to mediate as the police plan an assault, the kids demand improvements to the school, the media pick up the story, and Jackson turns sympathetic. But are too many forces in motion for the students to stay in control?
Light It Up is a 1999 American hostage crime teen drama film starring an ensemble cast that consists of R&B singer/actor Usher Raymond (in his first leading role), 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.
About the Story
In an urban Queens high school students, Julius Zacharias ‘Ziggy’ Malone (Robert Ri’chard), Lester DeWitt (Usher Raymond), who lost his father, hard-working student Stephanie Williams (Rosario Dawson), criminal Rodney J. Templeton (Fredro Starr), rebellious pregnant Lynn Sabatini (Sara Gilbert), and Robert Tremont a.k.a. “Rivers” (Clifton Collins, Jr.), attend the history class of Ken Knowles (Judd Nelson). Police officer Dante Jackson (Forest Whitaker) tries to arrest Lester after a misunderstanding 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 anywhere 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” and confronts him about this. In response Principal Armstrong suspends Rivers, Ziggy, Stephanie and Lester from the school and 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.
In the middle of all of this, there is a subplot in which Lynn berates Stephanie for being a “goody-two shoes”, and a fight in the school’s library that includes Rivers and Rodney, as well as Officer Jackson fleeing from Rodney and the others after knocking him out to use the bathroom. Another notable subplot was Ziggy showing everyone his artistic talents, such being a mural of himself and others on a classroom wall.
Light It Up (1999)
Directed by: Craig Bolotin
Starring: Usher Raymond, Forest Whitaker, Rosario Dawson, Robert Ri’chard, Judd Nelson, Fredro Starr, Sara Gilbert, Vanessa Williams, Jennifer Say Gan
Screenplay by: Craig Bolotin
Production Design by: Lawrence G. Paull
Cinematography by: Elliot Davis
Film Editing by: Wendy Greene Bricmont
Costume Design by: Salvador Pérez Jr.
Set Decoration by: Tricia Schneider
Art Direction by: Karen Fletcher Trujillo
Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams
MPAA Rating: R for language and violent content.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: November 10, 1999
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