Killing Zoe

This is a movie that you just happen upon one day without knowing what it is about but figure the name allows at least 10 minutes just for curiosity. Than it hooks you! Imagine Eric Stolz an American in Paris so to speak A reunion is to take place with his old friend. Sounds sweet? Well their friendship is anything but normal as the two lead men are.They embark on a nonstop wild trip to pull off a heist and lets say that this is one very bad acid trip of a gig. Stolz is initiated to who his crew will be and if he survives the night before the job, the rest lets say is a piece of quiche. This gritty almost can smell the stench in the air French great independent film is very much worth watching for there is never a moment of calm. Does Zoe get killed ? Who is Zoe? I thought Jean-Hugues Anglade was absolutely captivating as the totally violent drug crazed Eric. This is an actor that just really should get more work. He monopolizes every scene. I thought it was one of the coolest films and I just fell upon it. I have watched it several times since. It's definitively one to look into. It holds up against alot big budget action films with a dirty thrilling heart pounding rhythm mixed with excellent writing and cast.

Much hated by Tarantino-lovin' geeks who often haven't even bothered to see it, KILLING ZOE is a nasty and hilarious gem, lacking much of Quentin's trademark video clerk snottines n' know-it-all nerdy attitude. Combining elements of old French noir flicks with a true nihilistic slant, Avary's flick is a true avant-pop classic.

'Killing Zoe' is a movie that has grown on me over the years. When I first watched it I didn't think all that much of it, but each time I've seen it since I've liked it a little more, and I'm at the point now where I like it a lot. I don't think it's a GREAT movie, but it's a very good one, and extremely underrated. Roger Avary's connection with Quentin Tarantino has turned out to be more of a hindrance than a help to him. 'Killing Zoe' was frequently dismissed as just another Tarantino clone, which to me is unfair, because a) Avery actually wrote some of 'Reservoir Dogs', 'Pulp Fiction' and 'True Romance' (usually uncredited), and b) though the subject matter of 'Killing Zoe' is similar to say 'Reservoir Dogs', the approach is very different. And let's face it the heist-gone-wrong flick has a long history (the influence of 1950s crime classics 'Rififi', 'Bob Le Flambeur' and/or 'The Killing' on all subsequent variations of it cannot be underestimated), and Tarantino was building on an already established tradition. As well as that the hostage aspect of 'Killing Zoe' brings to mind 'Dog Day Afternoon' more than anything by QT. Anyway, I think this is an interesting movie. The violence is pretty blatant, but apart from that it is a subtle, character driven movie. Eric Stoltz ('Pulp Fiction') and Julie Delpy ('Before Sunrise') are both very good, especially in their first scene together, but the real stand out performance is by Jean-Hughes Anglade ('Betty Blue') who is outstanding. Anglade really makes the movie for me. 'Killing Zoe's reputation seems to be growing as the years go by, and now that the mid-90s Tarantino hype has died down it's about time it was judged on its own merits.

Killing Zoe played in Seattle theaters for exactly one week in August of 1994 and I managed to see it twice.Everything about this movie worked for me: the writing, the cinematography,the acting, the editing and the music. From the first images rushing through the streets of Paris until the blood-soaked climax, I was mesmerized. I consider myself lucky to have seen it in theaters with a good sound system becauseI have queried friends who have seen it on video and they had a completely different opinion of the film because they had missed key lines of dialog that really go a long way towards investing Killing Zoe with a certain quintessentially 90s vibe of doomed heroin-soaked romanticism, giving it deeper levels than most people are willing to admit.

Compared to the endless tiresome shoot-em-ups like the Schwarzeneggar--Stallone--Seagal type flicks, this movie shows style, class, and sensuality. A tense, edge-of-your-seat movie where for a change you DON'T know how it's going to end. The only flaw in the film is that it has a very low-budget quality with no real scenes outside in France, except at the very beginning at the airport. Everything else looks done in some studio with a few scenic shots tossed in, like a tv show that can't really go abroad and look authentic. But this movie is well worth renting--and beats 90% of the manufactured, formula plastic films next to it on the video shelf. An 8.5 out of 10.