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Killing Zoe

Killing Zoe

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Don't expect 'Pulp Fiction'
Review: I repeat, do NOT expect to hear the same dialouge as Pulp Fiction. The two movies are as different as night and day (except of course for the violence).

I honestly have mixed feelings about this movie. There are some parts of it I admired, like the cinema-photography. That and the acting is why I give the film three stars. However, there are too many things wrong with it to be a great film, mostly the weak, un-original plot.

Let me say that I don't have a problem with violence in movies, even over the top violence. However, to me the directors were shooting more for a "lets see how bloody and violent we can make this" film, rather than a "lets make a violent, bloody film with a solid unpredictable plot".

That I do have a problem with.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Botched Film about a Botched Bank Heist.
Review: Having had Quentin Tarantino on board as Executive Producer, I and Many Others naturally expected "Killing Zoë" to have Tarantino's flare for making the Bad Guys Likeable, the Violence Hard Hitting and the Laughs Jet Black. If you Expected these things, as I did, you Expected Too Much.

The Characters are Not Very Likeable, The Violence is Appropriately Hard Hitting and the Laughs are Few and Far Between, this is not to say I didn't Enjoy it, I just Expected more. Eric Stoltz stars a Zed, a Safe Cracker who has Fallen for one of his Hostages. Julie Delpy plays Zoë, the Hostage in Question. Stoltz and Delpy are both Art house Film Favourites, and they Do get audience Sympathy on their side, but they don't really give very Memorable performances. They both lack Expression and Range in these roles, roles that they should have Perfected after playing so many Similar roles in Better Movies.

Jean-Hughes Anglade, playing the Drug-fuelled Mastermind of the robbery, gives the Best performance in the film. He plays a Classic Villain who immediately reminded me of Michael Madson's "Mr Blonde" character in the Far Superior Heist film "Reservoir Dogs".

Roger Avery's Script and Directing are Far from Great, but they are Adequate. Fans of the genre should at least find Something they like in the film, as it is Full of Ideas that are not fully Realised.

One Great Performance, some Tough Gunplay and two Attractive leads do not a Great film make, but I'll still recommend it to Genre fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Really Great!
Review: I like this way better than "Resevoir Dogs". Eric Stoltz is quite good as an American who travels to Paris for a Bastille Day bank heist. Jean Hughes Anglade is phenomenal as his drug-addled friend. The first half works best but still terrific as a whole. Excellent anamorphic widescreen DVD transfer.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: WASTE OF TIME
Review: I am no fan of Julie Delpy, but she was the best thing about this movie. The film was plotless and a BIG waste of time. Half of the movie is wasted with a bunch of French characters getting drugged up... and all this wasted time really irritated me and actually angered me. I could not believe I was sitting there watching such stupidity. (I had to sit through it because a friend agreed to watch a movie I recommended if I would do the same). Eric Stoltz could do better than this, but for some reason, here he is in this film about a prostitute (Delpy) who saves the day (at least for Stoltz) after a bank robbery gone bad. If I could give this film ZERO stars, I would. Don't waste a moment of your precious time on this garbage.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This film can get inside your head
Review: The thing is, you can either relate to the story and the characters, or you don't. It explores some dark, dark places in the human psyche that most people do not want to witness. Jean-Huges Anglade's Eric is engaging. He is a psychotic, a man with who knows what neurosis or psychosis, the knowledge that he is dying of AIDS, a hopeless heroin addict. This is his downfall in actually being able to pull off his role as ring-master in the bank heist. Eric Stoltz's character reminded me a little of his character Lance, in Pulp. He is definitely living in the underworld and yet shows abilities for compassion and maybe even love, the anti-hero of this film. There should have been more development of his character as I would have liked to been able to enjoy the complexity of his role.

I agree that character development was lacking. I agree that the movie dragged some, especially in the beginning. I also heard more clever lines in Pulp. However, the use of camera, color, location, set up the backdrop of this film with much symbolism, helping to convey this film-noir's aspects.

Once the heist went down, I was along side them, every step of the way. I had to see how it was all going to play out in the end. I wanted to see Stoltz walk away in the end and "get the girl".

You will appreciate this movie for what it is, and forgive it for what it isn't. That is of course, you liked it. I did.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Tarantino Had a Hand in It
Review: Killing Zoe is an interesting movie with some great lines in it. For example an American tourist goes to the bank robbers and says you would be speaking German if it weren't for us! right before he gets shot in the face. But the movie is predictable but is an overall enjoyable movie to watch.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Definitely worthwhile
Review: Some ultra-vi movies, like "Reservoir Dogs" and "True Romance," have little to commend them because the vi is the be-all and end-all. "Killing Zoe" brackets the violence with humor and mania, resulting in a very interesting movie. Eric Stoltz plays Zed, a US safecracker just arrived in Paris for a big job with his former school buddy Eric (Jean-Hugues Anglade). He has the concierge at his hotel send up a prostitute (the very appealing Julie Delpy) and they get it on tenderly, falling in love. A cliche, but nicely done. The second third is a drug binge before the big job, vaguely psychedelic and reminiscent of the New Orleans cemetary acid scene in "Easy Rider," but better done. The last and most satisfying part is the bank heist gone awry--like "Dog Day Afternoon" on speed and minus the humor, but with lots more blood. The redeeming feature is the world-beating performance of Anglade as Eric, played with manic energy, dementia and irony as things go from bad to worse. He alone is worth the price of admission, though he gets plenty of help from fine performances by Stoltz and Delpy. Look for Gary Kemp, who played Fat Ron in "The Krays," as one of the bank robbers. Definitely worthwhile.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: .
Review: A relatively bad movie which is helped primarily by an interesting premise and (here and there) some real style. The first half of this movie is drawn-out, poorly acted, and generally incredibly dull. The second half, once the heist begins, is circumstantially well set up and sometimes entertaining, at one or two points even a touch brilliant, but it isn't enough to counterbalance the questionable performances (save for the really mean French guy, he's great), the over-the-top gimmicks, the badly developed drama, and general chaotic, self-indulgent unevenness that plague the movie as a whole.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolutely brilliant!
Review: I don`t have the words to describe this movie.I am only 14 years,old.Now is 1999. I have seen the movie a few days ago,and I am still under its spell. I think it was the best thing ever made.EVER. I live in Bosnia,Sarajevo. Unfortunately,I can`t even buy this movie,and I am going to regret it for LIFE.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Show me the real Paris.
Review: Cool flick that distorts some of the usual action-flick macho-isms with a nice frosted layer of drugs, heroin, aids and dixieland jazz. The driving through Paris scene is enough! Very cool. Notice the sleepy euro techno track underneath it all; pretty sophisticated slice of sound. A somewhat oversimplified ending...but this movie has cartoon qualities that work nice for what it is. I love the actress that plays the bankteller... she is my dreamgirl from Paris.


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