Starring: Eric Stoltz, Julie Delpy, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Tai Thai, Bruce Ramsay Directed By: Roger Avary Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC Label: Live / Artisan Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: August 15, 2000 Running Time: 96 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 1994-09
Description: An American safe cracker is summoned to Paris by a childhood buddy to help pull off a "can't fail" Bastille day bank robbery, but their dream of easy money quickly becomes a nightmare as his drug crazed friend looses control of the heist-and his mind-leading to a violent blood bath in the tradition of Reservoir Dogs. From the Creators of Pulp Fiction and True Romance.
"Forget them...let them get their own!" "....oh yeah, Eric Stoltz! Mostly unsung, but great heist flick...throw in some jejo-sniffin, H-bangin' psycho French bank robbers and I swear you'd almost forget how messed up you be!" PILATE: A Brutal Bible Tale
Cool movie I love this film with all it's humor & drama. One of the best films Stoltz have made.
A classic in its own right Eric Stolz is invited to be the safe-cracking specialist for a bank heist in Paris, doomed from the start. Jean-Hugues Anglade is the ringleader of a chaotic gang of bankrobbers-for-one-day. Julie Delpy, appearing divine as always, is the hooker that Eric orders right after landing.
This movie has "cult classic" written all over it, and after more than a decade it has lost none of its acuteness in portraying a generation that doesn't even care about being desperately lost. Abundant drugs permeate the story, but drugs alone can't fully account for everybody's apathy.
If you want to watch a quality film for a change, settle for this dvd and immerse yourself in its atmosphere, its snippets of authentic French dialogue, and its palpable nihilism. Great soundtrack, too.
A lot like Resevoir Dogs... First off I hate Eric Stoltz. I think he is a bad actor and has a horrible movie voice. He irritates me to be honest. That being said he is at the top of his limited game in this movie.
It is a very simple tale with a very simple setting. The whole French crew and their gregarious lifestyles and generally crazy demeanor is what makes this movie pretty good. These people live life to the fullest and are fun to watch onscreen. Delpy is great as usual, but I do not understand her attraction to Stoltz who is a dolt and largely uninterested in her on a deeper level it seems.
Worth a watch. It is not stylish violence though like a Tarentino movie. It is gritty and grimy.
Roger Avary Proves Himself to Be Worthy I was drawn to see this because Roger Avary was the man who came up with the idea for "The Gold Watch" segment in my favorite movie "Pulp Fiction". I was curious to see how Roger Avary was when he worked by himself. "Killing Zoe" was his directorial debut and like almost any debut, it has its flaws. It's not a bad movie though and it's a pretty interesting movie, but dialouge over story is truly Avary's strong suit. I hate to compare anybody's dialouge (except Elmore Leonard in his books) to Quentin Tarantino's, but to make a point I must. Avary's dialouge flows like Tarantino's and it's filled with wit and humor. I laughed aloud at a couple parts, like the cat & "I can't do pee on you for 200 bucks." The first time I watched it, I wondered to myself how one of the characters in this movie could feel emotion for the person that she helps at the end after what is done to her. I don't want to say much more than that for fear of ruining the movie...But in the first few scenes between these two, it's obvious. Anyway, "Killing Zoe" begins in a cab with Zed (Eric Stoltz, who's very good here), an American in France, who's on his way to a motel. When Zed gets to the motel, he takes a shower and a prosititute shows up at his house. This prostitute is Zoe (Julie Delpy of "Before Sunset"), an art student. In a great scene, Zoe and Zed have a conversation (after sex) about why they like each other. Then, Zed's friend Eric (Jean-Hughes Anglade) shows up and tosses Zoe, naked, out of the motel. Zed does nothing, but goes with Eric to his place where they begin to map out a bank robberty that's to happen tomorrow on Bastille Day (which I've never heard of except in the song by Rush). The bank will be the only one that's open, Zed will crack the safe. Problem is, Zed is not a bad man by any standard. He's a crook, but he's not a bad man. Eric is a bad man, he's also a drug fiend and that's not a good combination. Anyway, Eric and Zed, and a bunch of other guys go the bank the next day (they don't get to the bank until like 45 minutes into the movie) and preceed to rob it, but (as in all bank heist movies) things don't go their way and the cops are outside. Also, Zoe happens to work there...That's all I'm going to say about the synopsis. Anyways, one thing Avary does in this movie really well (besides dialouge) is he paces the film well. In a lot of movies, the pacing is boring and obvious. The only other director I can think of that can use a lot of pacing is Stanley Kubrick, most notably in "Eyes Wide Shut". Avary isn't using the pacing just to have some story leading up to the bank robbery, he's building the tension. Problem is, there were a few times when the pacing did get boring. Like in the scene where they're driving down the street and yelling at prosititutes. Pointless...But, this is a good movie and a good first feature. Stoltz, Anglade, and Delpy are all very good and Roger Avary proves that he's a worthy director.
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