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[[File:killingzoe_6893.jpg|frame|The death of life ("Zoe" is the [[Rule of Symbolism|Latin]] word meaning [[Don't Explain the Joke|"life."]]]]
]
 
{{quote| '''Zed:''' I can't pee on you?<br />
'''Zoe:''' No! }}
 
 
A 1994 crime/heist/[[Drug/postmodern|postmodern]] film, written and directed by [[Roger Avary]] (best known for co-writing ''[[Pulp Fiction (Film)|Pulp Fiction]]''). Stars Eric Stoltz as Zed, Julie Delpy as the titular Zoe, and Jean-Hugues Anglade as Eric, the mastermind behind the heist. [[Roger Ebert]] called it "Generation X's first bank caper movie."
 
Eric Stoltz plays Zed, an American safe-cracker in Paris to see his childhood friend Eric. After an interesting afternoon with Zoe, a call-girl (certainly not a prostitute), Eric shows up and takes Zed out to "live life." This is done by shooting up with Zed, and then telling him that he (Eric) is HIV positive. The following day is Bastille Day, and every bank except one is closed. Guess what happens. They rob the place, Eric goes crazy (well, crazier), the call-girl works there, and every piece of shit manages to hit the fan.
 
It's gone down in history as a lesser [[Quentin Tarantino (Creator)|Quentin Tarantino]] film, but his only involvement was as executive producer. Similarities between ''Killing Zoe'' and other Tarantino films do exist, but that is because Roger Avary had a hand in writing those scripts. Some called Tarantino out on reusing a call-girl character, as he had already done ''[[True Romance]]'', but the first draft of ''True Romance'' was written by Roger Avary. The true difference between ''Killing Zoe'' and the Tarantino's films is the nihilism. Avary writes villains who are selfish monsters and heroes that are nothing but apathetic. Does it come as a shock to anyone that the man's next film would be an adaptation of a [[Bret Easton Ellis]] [[The Rules of Attraction|book]]?
 
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* [[Everything Sounds Sexier in French]]: Obviously any french spoken by Julie Delpy's Zoe, and strangely, many lines from Eric sounds incredibly hot when you get past the whole "murder" thing.
* [[Gay Paree]]: Totally averted, since all but the opening and closing shots were filmed in Los Angeles. Avary actually tried to film a French McDonald's, but couldn't get permission.
* [[Hooker Withwith a Heart of Gold]]: Zoe falls for Zed because he makes her orgasm (by her own logic, only a client who's a good person could make her come).
* [[Insistent Terminology]]: Zoe is a "call girl," not a "prostitute."
* {{spoiler|[[Karmic Death]]}}: {{spoiler|Eric}} gets machine gunned to death by a least a half dozen cops. He spends almost 30 seconds having bullets rip through him.
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* [[Manic Pixie Dream Girl]]: With a gun! Unlike most MPDG's in fiction, Zoe doesn't inspire a whole lot of change in Zed. He doesn't lift an eyebrow when Eric locks her out of the hotel room without any clothes on. He does, however, risk his life to save her.
* [[Meaningful Echo]]: "I'll show you the real Paris."
* [[The Public Domain Channel]]: Silent classic ''[[Nosferatu (Film)|Nosferatu]]'' plays on TV while Zed and Zoe have sex.
* [[Sanity Slippage]]: Eric (noticing a pattern?)
* [[Vaporware]]: Avary wrote a sequel that picked up right after the film ends. It has yet to be made.
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[[Category:Films of the 1990s]]
[[Category:Killing Zoe]]
[[Category:Broken image markupFilm]]
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