Review of Killing Zoe (1993) by Allan C — 30 Apr 2016

Rogery Avary, co-writer of "Pulp Fiction," followed up that success with dis feature debut as writer/director on this mixed bag of a film. The film tells the story of safecracker Eric Stoltz meeting up in Paris with an old friend he hasn't seen in 11 years, Jean-Hugues Anglade, who wants him to help him with a job.

The bank job is unexpectedly the next day and like most crime pictures, things do not go as planning, particularly that Anglade has changed over the past 11 years into a dangerous drug addict nutcase.

There's also a plot thread involving an escort who spends the night with Stolz when he first arrives in Paris, Julie Delpy, who unexpectedly shows up as a worker at the bank. There is kind of a "Before Sunrise" element to the Delpy/Stoltz storyline, which is one of the stronger parts of the film.

Another strong part of the film is the drug induced first half of the film prior to the bank heist where Stolz and Anglade reconnect and Stolz slowly realized his old friend isn't so much the friend he remembers.

The bank heist portion of the film is sadly the weaker half of the film. Avery lack the flair for directing action sequences his "Pulp Fiction" co-writer, Quentin Tarantino, brings to his films and the bank heist sequences, while it does involves some twists and turns, is still a pretty standard and nearly cliched affair, that is only seems to stand apart thanks to some bloody Tom Savini special effects.

Another behind the scenes person worth mentioning is the tomandandy, who provided the score for the film in what was their first feature film. Overall it's not a terrible film, but I feel it had the potential be a whole lot better and could have stood alongside Tarantino's best crime pictures but is instead a big disappointment.