Killing Zoe (1994)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Roger Avary

Writer:

Roger Avary (written by)

Release Date:

September 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Zed has only just arrived in the beautiful Paris and already he's up to no good. Having just slept with a call girl...

Plot Keywords:

Paris | Heroin | Female Nudity | Punched In The Crotch | Stabbed In The Face

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Eric Stoltz	...	Zed
Julie Delpy	...	Zoe
Jean-Hugues Anglade	...	Eric
Tai Thai	...	François
Bruce Ramsay	...	Ricardo
Kario Salem	...	Jean
Salvator Xuereb	...	Claude
Gary Kemp	...	Oliver
Martin Raymond	...	Cab Driver
Eric Pascal Chaltiel	...	Bellboy
Cecilia Peck	...	Martina
Gladys Holland	...	Sub Lobby Teller
Gian-Carlo Scandiuzzi	...	Assistant Bank Manager (as Gian Carlo Scandiuzzi)
Gérard Bonn	...	Assistant Bank Manager
Bernard Baski	...	Policeman

Also Known As:

Killing Zoe (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and language, plentiful drug use and a sex scene. (edited for re-rating)

Runtime:

96 min | France:99 min (director's cut)

Country:

France | USA

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Denmark:15 | Australia:R | Canada:R | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:III | Israel:18 | Italy:VM14 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Davis-Films

Trivia:

Roger Avary wrote the script in roughly a week and a half. He also wrote the role of Zed specifically for Eric Stoltz.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Shadow of the camera visible on the ground during the opening titles.

Quotes:

Eric: We go in. We get what we want. We come out.

Movie Connections:

Features The Wicker Man (1973)

Soundtrack:

Afrika

See this film for entertainment's sake.

Killing Zoe (1994) is not groundbreaking but is never-the-less more entertaining than most crap in cinemas these days. This film is a great character study. None of the characters are boring or dull and they all are unique. Anyway, the story goes like this:

Zed (Eric Stoltz) is an American visiting Paris who gets more than he bargained for in his trip. On his first night he meets call-girl Zoe (Julie Delpy) and they pretty much have sex then fall in love. Their bonding is temporarily broken up by Eric (Jean-Hughes Anglade), Zed's old childhood friend who rudely throws a naked Zoe out into the hallway. Eric and Zed catch up on a few things and head down to Eric's place. There, they plan to rob the only bank open on Bastille Day, which is the following day. Zed, Eric, and Eric's crew then have a night on the town: doing drugs, doing more drugs, drinking, and then doing even more drugs. The next day Zed wakes up with a hangover but still has to do the heist. Well, almost everything goes wrong when everybody basically forgets the plan and Eric turns into a psycho. What makes matters even worse for Zed is that Zoe works at the bank and is now held as a hostage. Betrayal, greed, bloody violence, and love ensue.

Eric Stoltz always does a great job in everything he's in. There's no fault in his character and he portrays an extremely funny/cool Zed. Jean-Hughes Anglade nearly steals the show as the murderous sociopath Eric. Julie Delpy is decent as the lovely Zoe. The rest of the cast, especially Gary Kemp, are outstanding.

The violence is pretty bloody, the worst being the last death in the film. There's some splatter and all of the bank scenes are very tense. But that shouldn't drive you away from seeing this movie.

Roger Avary is a great writer/director. I especially enjoyed his work on The Rules of Attraction (2002). The editing for Killing Zoe is fantastic, as is the music supplied by tomandandy.

So see this film for entertainment's sake. It's got great character developments and bloody violence (if you're in to that stuff). While no masterpiece, I give Killing Zoe a 7 out of 10.