Killing Zoe is the feature film debut from Quentin Tarantino's ex-friend and collaborator on Pulp Fiction, Roger Avery. Avery is less talented than his ex-friend, that's beyond question and it shows in this movie; which despite not being bad at all, isn't brilliant either. The first thing you'll notice about it is it's European styling, which emancipates from the fact that it's set in Paris and it's cast of actors, who hail from across Europe (and the world). We've got French, British, Japanese and most probably more. The plot is Reservoir Dogs-ish, with a bunch of men planning a bank heist. We follow Zed (Erik Stoltz), an American that has just arrived in Paris and hooked himself with a hooker. He's in on the robbery of course, but before he gets there he's taken on a night out around Paris, for drugs, drinking and god only knows what else. Naturally, the film is cool as anything; and this appears to be the entire point of the movie as the plot lacks bite, charm or anything resembling a point.
Killing Zoe gains credibility for being very entertaining, and you'll wonder where the time has gone while watching this movie, which is never a bad thing. Of course, it is, in effect, a waste of time; but if you enjoy watching it, it hardly matters. The film is continually unpleasant, with violence, gore, swearing, nudity and the rest of the gang featuring heavily, which will no doubt offend some - but certainly not me. Eric Stoltz takes the lead role, and does well with it; even if he does never really impress, and at times even looks uncomfortable. Julie Delpy is the title character and she doesn't impress either; she'd prove her worth a year later in Before Sunrise, of course, but here she doesn't really impress. Jean-Hugues Anglade, who does impress as the lead villain, steals the show. He's loud, brash and over the top; making every scene he's in a delight. Avery's direction is solid for most of the movie, but he appears to get a little big headed towards the end when he throws in lots of little tricks that aren't all that good. However, this is certainly a decent movie and fans of Tarantino will probably think "it's awesome!"
Killing Zoe gains credibility for being very entertaining, and you'll wonder where the time has gone while watching this movie, which is never a bad thing. Of course, it is, in effect, a waste of time; but if you enjoy watching it, it hardly matters. The film is continually unpleasant, with violence, gore, swearing, nudity and the rest of the gang featuring heavily, which will no doubt offend some - but certainly not me. Eric Stoltz takes the lead role, and does well with it; even if he does never really impress, and at times even looks uncomfortable. Julie Delpy is the title character and she doesn't impress either; she'd prove her worth a year later in Before Sunrise, of course, but here she doesn't really impress. Jean-Hugues Anglade, who does impress as the lead villain, steals the show. He's loud, brash and over the top; making every scene he's in a delight. Avery's direction is solid for most of the movie, but he appears to get a little big headed towards the end when he throws in lots of little tricks that aren't all that good. However, this is certainly a decent movie and fans of Tarantino will probably think "it's awesome!"