Zelig (1983)
Zelig Videos
Zelig Photos
Movie Info
Cast
as Leonard Zelig
as Dr. Eudora Fletcher
as Actor Zelig
as Sister Meryl
as Dr. Sindell
as Glandular Diagnosis Doctor
as Mexican Food Doctor
as Dr. Birsky
as Hypodermic Doctor
as Experimental Drugs Doctor
as Other Doctor
as Other Doctor
as Other Doctor
as Man in Barber Chair
as Man in Park
as Scotsman
as Himself
as Freshman No. 1
as Herself
as Freshman No. 2
as Workers Rally Speaker
as Martin Geist
as Sister Ruth
as Telephone Operator
as Woman at Telephone
as Actor Doctor
as Actor Koslow
as Miss Baker
as Charles Koslow
as Martinez
as Paul Deghuee
as City Hall Speaker
as Dr. Fletcher's Mother
as On-Camera Interviewer
as Hearst Guest
as Hearst Guest
as Lita Fox
as Lita's Lawyer
as Zelig's Lawyer
as Helen Gray
as Zelig's Wife
as Wrist Victim
as House Painting Victim
as Vilification Woman
as Greek Waiter
as Man on Telephone
as Actress Fletcher
as Rally Chancellor
as Zelig's Stunt Double
as Fletcher's Stunt Double
as Carter Dean
as Calvin Turner
as Narrator
as Older Doctor Fletcher
as Mike Geibell
as Ted Bierbauer
as Older Paul
as Older Sister Meryl
as Oswald
as Herself
as Himself
as Himself
as Herself
as Himself
as Himself
as Himself
as Himself
as Himself
as Himself
as Himself
Critic Reviews for Zelig
All Critics (24) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (0) | DVD (4)
A sublime comic parable about the quest for identity.
Lampooning documentary tradition by structuring the entire film as a meticulously crafted bogus docu, Woody Allen tackles some serious stuff en route
The comedy tends to the smirk-inducing rather than the laugh-out-loud, and the second half wanders somewhat, but Zelig is a strong contender for Allen's most fascinating film.
Zelig is small but it's one of those Allen comedies by which all his other films will be compared.
Gordon Willis' work on this picture is astounding, as he and writer-director-star Woody Allen work in tandem to create a brilliant faux-documentary.
A masterpiece: a brilliant, even passionate historical pastiche, a superbly pregnant meditation on American society and individuality, and an eerie fantasy that will live in your dreams.
Audience Reviews for Zelig
A delightful, original and funny Woody Allen mockumentary that is most impressive due to Gordon Willis' spectacular cinematography and the technique employed to make it look like old film from the 1920s, with even the actors inserted into real archival footage from back then.
Super Reviewer
This mockumentary about a human chameleon who is able to change race, appearance, and professional demeanor at will is rather clever with the "archive footage," the smoooth 'n smarmy radio-voiced "narrator," and the "cameo interviews" with actual famous literati, but the movie tips on the tightrope of Woody Allen's slapstick inanity and Woody Allen's in-depth human analysis without ever transcending to the latter. I'm not one for blanket political correctness, but if you're gonna use blackface and slant-eyed make-up, you've gotta say something narratively relevant and not just treat it as a gag. There's so much social and cultural critique to be mined for both smart comedy and introspective pathos: people's prejudices toward different races, the knowledge of one's own race as the Other, the oftentimes unquestioned authority of those in respected professions, et cetera. The fictional Dr. Eudora Fletcher states that to the untrained observer, Zelig's faux-psychiatrist sounds realistic, but he's really just deploying cliched lingo. It would follow that Zelig adopts different stereotypical speech patterns for different races or classes, but all of this "research" is presented in silent "archive footage," not some tour de force bit of spoof acting like Robert Downey Jr.'s in "Tropic Thunder." Nothing changes within Woody or Zelig to actually BECOME or even inhabit another personality, which is sadly unsurprising since Woody Allen seems incapable of playing anyone other than Woody Allen. (And anyway, mimicking Dr. Fletcher is technically a plothole because Zelig's chameleonic power doesn't work with or on women.) Without grounding in what it actually means to "pass" as a different race, class, or other distinction, this lightweight premise and execution is almost as insulting as Woody's blind man bit in "Hollywood Ending."
Super Reviewer
This is Woody Allen's funny, offbeat, and really cleverly hilarious mockumentary about Leonard Zelig, the "human chameleon"- a man with a multiple personality disorder so bad, he compulsively transforms into anyone that he is near. The bulk of the film is shot in the style of 1920s/30s newsreels, and follows Leonard through history as he does everything from show up to batting practive with Babe Ruth, appear at the Vatican with Pope Pius and stand behind Hitler at the Nuremberg Rally. Basically, this film pioneered the same concept and special effects later used to great effect and acclaim by Robert Zemeckis with Forrest Gump. This film is a lot funnier, more clever, and more zany, though. Besides his antics with mimicking people and showing up at various historical events, Zelig becomes a celebrity in his own right, and, while being treated and cured by Dr. Eudora Fletcher, he falls in love. This is a brisk, funny, very sweet, and terrific film. I loved the ideas and the execution. At a running time of 80 somehting minutes though, this feels really slight and the style seems to overrun the substance. The film does get slightly beneath the surface though, so it's not all fluff. It's not one of Woody's best, but I'd put it near the top of his B-Sides.
Super Reviewer
Zelig Quotes
| Leonard Zelig: | "I have an interesting case. I'm treating two sets of Siamese twins with split personalities. I'm getting paid by eight people." |
| Leonard Zelig: | I have an interesting case. I'm treating two sets of Siamese twins with split personalities. I'm getting paid by eight people. |
Discussion Forum
Discuss Zelig on our Movie forum!