Great crime film (Rating: 5.00)
Review : "Killing Zoe" has to be one the most violent films, but oddly my favorite. Its the story of an American safecracker who gets out of prison and travels to Paris to rob a bank with his French friend, Eric. There he meets a prostitute named Zoe who happens to work at the bank they rob. The robbery is one of the most bloody in movie history with them gunning down anyone that gets in the way. At first I was uncomfortable with that but the story unfolds in a way that is so compelling you can't stop watching. Jean-Hughes Anglade was incredible in his portrayal of the evil Aids stricken Eric with no respect for human life. Eric is probably the most interesting character in the film. He's so ruthless and convincing that he's the one thing that makes this movie so great.There are also funny moments like the Billy Holiday albums, their night at the jazz club, the Viking movies and the little monkey. The movie is bizarre at times but its definitely unique. All in all, its a great film that I watch over and over again.
Killer Movie (Rating: 4.00)
Review : Killing Zoe is one of the best, if not the best bank robbing movies ever! There are many memorable lines, and characters. ...Julie Delpy is an absolute hottie! It sure helps out when she can speak french. Oh la la. About half the dialogue is in French which helps you get into the movie as well as the characters. (believe it or not.) The movie is made by the same people who "brought you" pulp fiction and resevoir dogs. But you know what, that shouldn't be the only reason to pick up this dvd, c'mon man, the movie is just so entertaining. The movie is on the same level as resevoir dogs and pulp fiction, if not better. (It wasn't directed by Tarrentino). All the characters in the movie are fun to watch. Each character has at least one line they say that you probably will be repeating tomorrow. Great writing often makes great movies. And great writing is what this movie has. Killing Zoe just oozes out that coolness. The DVD has no deleted scenes, out takes or any of that extra stuff really, but this movie is still a definite must own.
Definitely worthwhile (Rating: 4.00)
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.
I wish I was Zoe! (Rating: 1.00)
Review : I wish I was Zoe so that someone would have killed me before I started watching this drivel. This film was reccomended to me and all I can say is I'm glad I didn't pay to see it. Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender produced this. I must admit, I find that very hard to believe. Not because of the slow pace, crappy story and characters (Although that is surprisng for those two) but it's the incredible lack of money that surprised me most of all. Don't get me wrong on this, I don't care if a film is made on pennies. BUT IT HAS TO BE GOOD. Robert Rodrigiez made El Mariachi on seven thousand dollars. This looks like it was made on seven cents. I personally think that this film was no more than one of Tarantino's old Video archives buddies asking for a bit of money to make a film. Tarantino being the nice guy that he supposedly is, not to mention a film addict, was curious to see what his friend would produce. Now it went one of two ways. Either Tarantino and Bender gave him the money and left him to do the whole thing on his own without any tip offs, or the guy just kept all the money, went to the local supermarket to pick up a crappy video camera (cos that's what it looks like) and shot the film without a care in the world eagerly awaiting the rap party. Anyway I f you find all this hard to believe (Just like I did) then get hold of this and find out yourself. But make sure you do yourself a favour and when you start to get incredibly bored, turn the film off. Take my advice, It doesn't get any better. I would be surprised if Lawrence Bender and Quentin Tarantino didn't agree with me!
Killing The Audience (Rating: 1.00)
Review : Predictable from the first 5 minutes into the movie. Overdone plot about a robbery gone wrong and the safe-cracker hero who has a heart. Nothing original here except for scenes so vulgar and tasteless that it would make Howard Stern turn in disgust. The script is nil and the acting less than stellar. The conincidences purposefully placed in the film to support the plot are too great to be credible and the action too dull to keep it interesting. I frankly could have done without the grotesque heroin-induced sodomy scenes. Watch "Heat" instead if you want to see a great bank heist film. Don't waste your time or money on this one, it's a sleeper at best: A negative rating is called for.
craziness (Rating: 5.00)
Review : You guys are nuts. Killing Zoe may not be the bank robbery film that Heat is, but it has many more aspects to it, namely gratuitous sex, drugs, and violence. Yes, the bathroom scene is a little much, and the movie is unrealistic. But if you're going to movies to experience realism, what's the point? Just walk outside. Killing Zoe is a perfect distraction for any of you out there who, like me, are to entrenched in reality to fly to Europe and take heroin for the first time the night before a bank robbery you didn't plan for at all. I'm personally insulted by the stupidity that would be necessary to call this movie predictable, simply because I didn't anticipate it was possible for such a level of it to exist and I hate it when I realize that dumb people still have the capability of suprising me. This movie is a classic.
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