Zoe

Rating:
Summary: A simple story of two gentle, lost people
Review: No car crashes, no explosions, no battle scenes -- just a gentle tale about two people looking for their place in the world. Vanessa Zima is wonderful, a mature performance far beyond her years. And Jenny Seagrove -- one of my favorites -- proves once again that her range and talent are virtually endless. She takes this role and wraps every emotion around it, she cradles it throughout the movie, and she presents her character to the audience, vulnerable but never tentative. Some day enough people will come to know this underappreciated sctor, and she will receive the credit for which she is long overdue. A stellar supporting cast and the beautiful desert southwest USA complete this must-see film. Flippin' shame the movie didn't find a distributor. NOTE: Though not rated, I'd probably give it a PG-13. No violence to speak of; brief yet tasteful presentation of sexuality; nudity implied but not viewable. (Review is of a VHS copy of this movie.)

Rating:
Summary: What A Treasure!!
Review: There were very few DVD's left at the small video store where I shop on this last 4th of July weekend, and 'Zoe' was one of them. So I thought, "what the heck".
I loved this story! To quote Cecelia in the movie, it is a "secret treasure". Vanessa Zima gives a great performance as an adolescent trying hard to figure out what her place in the world is all about, and with her two friends create a very believable friendship and adventure. She constantly carries with her a page ripped from a National Geographic, and she dreams of possibilities. Jenny Seagrove is perfect as Cecelia, a woman who thinks she has her life in predictable order but finds out that there's more to life than she ever imagined. Both woman and child are destined to share life-changing discoveries about themselves and the world around them and the story is beautiful. If you remember ever feeling like you just wanted your world to change- to somehow right itself, this is a movie you will enjoy.

I doubt that the budget for this was very large, but Deborah Attoinese did a fine job with a touching story and I'm glad that she was able to bring it to film. Only two things I wish for: I wish it was longer! and I wish there was a soundtrack for it. At the very least, I would have liked to get some of the songs by Laurie Webb. However, my search for that so far is elusive. I will keep trying.
And yes, I enjoyed the film so much that I bought the dvd.

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT MOVIE!!
Review: Zoe (Vanessa Zima) is a teenage girl growing up in Michigan, where she's grown frustrated with life in the Midwest and is at odds with her mother (Kim Greist), who refuses to break things off with her boyfriend, who often beats her. Zoe wants to find a new direction in her life, and when she learns that one of her ancestors was a Cherokee Indian, she decides to explore her Native American heritage. Two of Zoe's friends, Ally (Victoria Davis) and Sarah (Stephi Lineburg), want to go to California, and since Zoe thinks she can find a spiritual guide in New Mexico, she decides to join them as they steal a car and head west. En route, Zoe makes the acquaintance of Cecelia (Jenny Seagrove), a British woman who is heading out to Navajo territory to scatter the ashes of her late mother, and Zoe believes she's met a mirror-version of herself (albeit a few years older).

This movie is something you will really enjoy very much! This is one of those little known type of movies and when you watch it, you are so glad you did because its made so well!

Rating:
Summary: What A Treasure!!
Review: Zoe is a movie that you shouldn't miss. It's funny, exciting, wise and moving. The actors are great--don't miss Gordon Tootoosis; he's amazing. So is Jenny Seagrove. The director manages to weave together two or three stories flawlessly and always keeps you interested. Ultimately, it's a story about courage, about going someplace new, about trusting yourself. I loved it.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: Zoe is a movie that you shouldn't miss. It's funny, exciting, wise and moving. The actors are great--don't miss Gordon Tootoosis; he's amazing. So is Jenny Seagrove. The director manages to weave together two or three stories flawlessly and always keeps you interested. Ultimately, it's a story about courage, about going someplace new, about trusting yourself. I loved it.