Killing Zoe  ★★★½

THIS is very geeky but, anyway, here goes.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the characters played by Eric Stoltz in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Roger Avary’s Killing Zoe.

Avary wrote and directed Killing Zoe which was released in 1993 and featured Stoltz in the lead role of Zed, a safecracker who lands in Paris to be part of a bank robbery on the Bastille holiday weekend.

He also helped Tarantino write 1994’s Pulp Fiction in which Stoltz played Lance, the manic, dressing gown clad drug dealer who sells Mia the cocaine that almost kills her in one of that film’s most memorable scenes.

This is a spoiler for the earlier film, but one widely-held theory is that Lance is in fact Zed. I don’t buy it. Pulp Fiction also includes reference to the earlier death of a character named Zed and I’m pretty sure that is the meant to be the same character.

Wow; amazing…not!  Okay, I get the message and I’ll get on with it.

Killing Zoe is an unique little crime thriller featuring terrific dialogue, oddball characters and a story that meanders through your end until it explodes in an orgy of climactic violence.

The film is neatly divided into three acts: Zed’s arrival in Paris and stay at a hotel during which he hooks up with a prostitute, played by Julie Delpy; Zed’s reunion with old friend Eric and a wild, drug-fueled night on the town with his fellow bank robbers the night before the heist; and the doomed robbery itself.

There is palpable energy throughout this propulsive film, led by the amazing performance of Jean-Hugues Anglade as Eric, a man who seems intent on living every moment to the fullest with not a scerrick of care or concern for anyone who gets in his way.

Anglade is another of my favourite French actors with so many wonderful and varied performances in films like Subway, Betty Blue, La Femme Nikita, Queen Margo and, more recently the television series Suburra and Braquo.

Killing Zoe is a frustrating, fascinating little gem that showcases Anglade at the top of his game. His final scene is worth watching alone.

If you love Pulp Fiction and haven’t seen this, you should enjoy.