Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie''s plot.
When Quentin Tarantino emerged with his 1992 debut heist film Reservoir Dogs, the film was immediately hailed as a classic that helped independent cinema to the mainstream. For Tarantino the success of his debut and the script for 1993's True Romance would afford him the chance to not only take on his next project, Pulp Fiction. He and producer friend Lawrence Bender also decided to use their clout to help create projects for new directors. One of them was a friend of Tarantino's whom he worked with at the Video Archives store in Los Angeles in Roger Avary. Avary helped contribute material for the scripts that Tarantino wrote where in favor, Tarantino decided to fund the script for Avary’s first feature film. A doomed heist involving an ex-con American safecracker where everything goes to hell entitled Killing Zoe.
Written and directed by Roger Avary, Killing Zoe is a heist film that has the elements of what is expected from Quentin Tarantino with its off-kilter dialogue, stylish pacing, and graphic violence. The film involves an American safecracker who goes to Paris for a job to reunite with an old friend as a bank robbery turns to hell with cops surrounding the outside area and the robbers hung over from a night of partying. Starring Eric Stoltz, Julie Delpy, Jean-Hughes Anglade, Gary Kemp, Bruce Ramsay, Kario Salem, Tai Thai, and Salvator Xuereb. Killing Zoe, despite its lack of originality, is still a fun, offbeat heist movie from Roger Avary.
After finishing a stint in prison, former American safecracker Zed (Eric Stoltz) arrives in Paris hoping to see his longtime childhood friend Eric (Jean-Hughes Anglade) for a job in Paris. Arriving at a hotel, Zed relaxes until the arrival of a young French hooker named Zoe (Julie Delpy). Immediately, the two connect as they talk and have sex while watching Nosferatu as Zoe reveals her kind-hearted nature and that she uses her hooker job to help her tuition as an art student. Later that day, Eric arrives as he kicks out Zoe where he and Zed talk about what they plan to do for a heist job in a Paris bank.
Taking Zed to meet the gang that included fellow Brit Oliver (Gary Kemp), and some crazy Frenchmen in Claude (Salvator Xuereb), Ricardo (Bruce Ramsay), Francois (Tai Thai), and Jean (Kario Salem). They decided that since the job was going to be tomorrow, the gang of seven go out for a night of debauchery in Paris where they go to an underground jazz club. High on heroin and other substances, Zed is approached by a woman named Martina (Cecilia Peck) who asks if she can crash with him. The partying gets a little crazy as the next day, the gang is hung over as they get ready for their heist which happens on the day.
After killing a few security guards, the gang holds many people hostage as Eric leads the charge to the vault. Taking the bank manager (Gian-Carlo Scandiuzzi) to lead them to the vault, the manager said he couldn't open it as suddenly, Eric kills him and a woman leaving Zed to open the vault himself. Watching the entire heist unfolding to no one's knowledge is Zoe who works as a teller. Things for a while become fine as Eric takes another shot of smack only to be waken up when a security guard kills Ricardo and shooting Francois as the guard is dead. Meanwhile, Claude is becoming paranoid about the alarm as cops are suddenly outside of the bank. Things only get worse when Zed knows that the vault to open to get to another one is protected by a guard. With Zed not knowing that Zoe works in the bank, he leads into some moral dilemmas as the gang is wondering if they can make it.
While the film in comparison to the works of Tarantino does lack a bit of originality in terms of catchy dialogue, violence, and stylish pacing. Roger Avary does manage to maintain a very interesting and fun film where it has some fun moments. Avary's script is wonderfully structured in how it introduced the characters in the first half of the film and leading to heist in the film's second half. Though its pacing loses a bit of momentum in its hazy, drug-induced party scene in the club. The movie and the script regains the momentum once it arrives to the heist. The film's violence is pretty graphic only that it doesn't show the person being killed but from someone else's perspective. The film also has some fine directing and camera movement from Avary where he does wonderful work on the close-ups and observe everything that's going on. Despite its lack of originality, Roger Avary does create a fine heist film that is filled with a lot of style and some moral substance.
Cinematographer Tom Richmond does some wonderful work in capturing the lighting of the hazy drug scenes and bank with help from David Wasco in his production design, notably the red look of the bank. The film is nicely edited by Kathryn Himoff as it's wonderfully paced until the second act in the club scene while it the film does carry long shots where the cutting isn't very fast. Helping out with the intensity of the film in the music is the score work of Tomandandy whose pulsating electronic beats and textures help provide the film's ominous moments and robbery scenes.
Finally, there’s the film's cast that includes some nice, small performances from Cecilia Peck as a clubgoer, Richard Turner as an American tourist (who got what he really deserved), Gian-Carlo Scandiuzzi as a bank manager, Martin Raymond as a cab driver in the first few minutes, and 30-second cameo from none other than porn film legend Ron Jeremy as doomed security guard. Bruce Ramsay, Tai Thai, Salvator Xuereb, and Kario Salem are all great as Eric's crazed robbing buddies while former Spandau Ballet composer Gary Kemp stands out as the Brit, Viking-loving Oliver.
Jean-Hughes Anglade gives the film's best performance as the drugged-out, crazy Eric who is probably one of the coolest robbers with the way he flicks his lighter, do sick things yet look cool doing it. Julie Delpy brings a charming sexiness to her role as Zoe who finds herself caught watching a robbery while not wanting to get herself killed. Delpy gives another excellent performance as a woman who could've been a damsel in distress only to do a little bit of resistance. Eric Stoltz is also great as the moralistic Zed who knows that he's doing a job but a hangover and Eric's attitude brings him great internal conflict as Zed is the most complex character which gives Stoltz one of his best performances.
Killing Zoe was a hit among the Tarantino fan base as it helped expose Roger Avary as a new up-and-coming director. Around the same time it was released, Pulp Fiction came out where the film won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Tarantino and Roger Avary. Since then, Avary and Tarantino fallen out over credit as Avary went out on his own to do TV work including an unaired TV pilot. Avary also had problems trying to get by until 2002's Rules of Attraction where despite mixed review afforded him the chance to come out of his own. Even as he made a joke about Killing Zoe in an early scene on his sophomore feature which also featured a Ron Jeremy cameo and a small role from Eric Stoltz. While it's not entirely original, thanks to Avary's direction and the performances of Eric Stoltz, Julie Delpy, and Jean-Hughes Anglade, Killing Zoe is a cool heist film that is fun to watch.
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