Rating: 
Summary: A Nugget Found
Review: "ZELIG" is one of the reasons I subscribe to cable TV.In the desert sand and boggy quagmire of standard TV, it takes sifting through more than a few channels to find a few happy morsels with which to spend a free hour or two. Occasionally you find a hidden nugget like this that makes it all worth while. I had never before seen "ZELIG" when I chanced upon it this week. I fact I cannot remember even being aware of the movie. However, I enjoy the subtle understated irony of Woody Allen's humor and found this movie to be one of his best.
As covered in other reviews, the story line concerns the treatment and rehabilitation of a weak neurotic man (Woody Allen, of cause) who converts to the values and traits of whomever he is with. The process of unconditional love (provided here by his psychiatrist played by Mia Farrow) overcoming one's insecurities and weaknesses is cleverly done in mock documentary style cutting from old B&W newsreels to contemporary interviews. This is a wonderful film that will keep you watching and make you smile while appreciating that there is something deeper here. Allen displays a light touch to get his message across without becoming heavy handed or taking himself too seriously. I was especially impressed by the quality of the splices which realistically placed the characters into old newsreel footage and gave historical perspective and meaning to the story. Though 'pre-Gump' this was accomplished better here, especially since the greater part of the movie was done in newsreel style. I recommend this little nugget highly.
Rating:
Summary: Woody Allen Does It Again: Hilarious Documentary
Review: 1983's "Zelig" was written and directed by Woody Allen. This is of course years after 1977's Annie Hall and so Woody Allen's comic talent was already established. Woody Allen's witty, intellectual humor is most prominent in this film which he directs as if it were a documentary. It's entirely in black and white, except for the contemporary scenes of interviewed characters, there is footage from the 20's, 30's and 40's, including footage of Adolph Hitler making a speech at a Nazi rally. Woody Allen plays Leonard Zelig, a shy, unassuming little man with an identity disorder. He cannot truly be himself because he becomes transformed into his surroundings. When he is around Jewish rabbis, he becomes Jewish, when he is around African-Americans, he becomes black, when he is around overweight people, he becomes fat, etc. This miracle of biology earned him the title of the Chameleon or "The Changing Man". Mia Farrow, who coincidentally was romantically linked with Woody Allen at this time in the 80's, plays the role of Zelig's love interest Dr. Eudora Fletcher. Eudora Fletcher takes a genuine interest in Zelig and examines him psychologically through hypnosis. The scenes of their sessions are extremely funny but then again so is much of this movie. Woody Allen is the first Forrest Gump, being as funny and awkward, at least 10 years before Tom Hanks did it in the 90's. Zelig is so loved that he is hob-nobbing with all the greats of the time- Charlie Chaplin, William Randalph Hearst, Fanny Brice, F. Scott Fitzegerald and Zelda, etc. The music for this movie is appropriately cartoonish and Charleston/Jazz Age style. There is one dance segment called The Chameleon and another with the voice of Betty Boop singing "Chameleon Days". Witty dialogue, lots of humor and visual jokes, it's a movie that is sure to delight you.
Rating:
Summary: Underated and Unknown
Review: A movie rarely talked about and grossly overlooked. Zelig is a wonderful film, filmed in the style of the boreing historical documentories we were forced to watch in grade school or on pbs. This film is anything but boreing, switching from black and white to recent color interviews. Zelig is a story of a very plain man named Leonard Zelig. To fit in, he changes his personality to suit his surroudings in the 1920's. With a black person, he becomes black. The same goes with different nationalities, political views, religon, etc.... Gordon Willis' cinematography is ahead of it's time, seeing Woody Allen with Babe Ruth, Woodrow Wilson, etc.... Hello Forest Gump! I hope Zelig will be given the dvd treatment. It's a crime it's not even available on vhs. It's only 79 minutes but at 79 minutes an original classic from the master, Woody Allen.
Rating:
Summary: One of the foremost films of Woody Allen
Review: Allen was in a surrealistic mood when he made this film. The powerful content about Zelig in the thirties is a bitter gaze about a disfunctional , a low level person , an example of the mass media rank can become.
The film is abolutely delightful with countless laughable situations . But the remaining message after the movie has finished still turns around in your memory.
Oscar Wilde wrote this funny but clever sentence . The fashion is easy to define ; it's what will become old fashioned tomorrow.
This could be a smart joke . But I link with Zelig , because Zelig is a human being who wants to be accepted by the world , but lacks of center . So these countless characters mean a trial and error behavior , just for achieve this goal .
And notice that Allen is original because he seeks and goes to the origen of the things.
And this film overcomes this limit.!
Rating: 
Summary: Very Unique and Clever
Review: Basiclly a one joke film that after a while just runs out. Even though it's a pretty short movie, it needed to be even shorter. The whole joke gets stale, as the movie seems to just keep going and going. But I would recommend that fimbuffs, Allen fans, and young filmmakers watch this movie. Remarkable cinematography by Gordon Willis, great costume designs by Santo Loquasto and production designs by Mel Bourne. The animation and opitical effects are first rate also. And the editing by Susan E. Morse is wonderful. It's because of all of these things the movie falls together. If the techanical aspect of the movie wasn't done as masterfully as it's done here then the movie wouldn't be watchable. Good, solid performances by Mia Farrow and Woody Allen. The rest of the cast is filled with unknows. It's due to this the movie has a certain feel to it, that makes it "real". Because we never saw these people before, it makes it more authentic. Another stand out is the music by Dick Hyman, which also gives it a "real" feeling. This is a movie that will dazzle you with the effects, but the story remains weak. But it's still a fun movie to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Remember when Zelig was as popular as Lindbergh?
Review: Before there was Forrest Gump shaking hands with John F. Kennedy there was Leonard Zelig interrupting a speech by Adolf Hitler. This 1983 faux-documentary from Woody Allen tells the tale of a strange little man who wanted so badly to fit in that he was able to change like a chameleon to blend in with his surroundings, whether that meant being a musician in a black band, a psychiatrist in a mental institution, or a member of the Nazi party. Mia Farrow co-stars as Dr. Eudora Fletcher, who not only treats Zelig with her radical psychiatric theories but eventually falls in love with the lovable loser, saving him from those who want to put him on display so people can watch Leonard turn Chinese, French or obese. Cinematographer Gordon Willis deserves a lot of the credit for "Zelig," creatively aging his film to blend with the archive footage that has Leonard rubbing elbows with Fanny Brice, Charles Chaplin and Rudolf Hess. This "documentary" includes "contemporary" interviews with Dr. Fletcher (Ellen Garrison) and other figures in the life and times of Zelig as well as comments from critics such as Susan Sontag and Saul Bellow ("He touched people in a way that they perhaps did not want to be touched..."). I also must commend the unique narrative style provided by Patrick Horgan, who delivers the sly narration with the driest sense of humor ever recorded. My favorite section of this film is when Zelig becomes the national craze of the moment, to be celebrated and exploited by dolls, games and puzzles, songs like "Leonard the Lizard," and even a Hollywood movie. "Zelig" is a much more subtle documentary parody than either "Take the Money and Run" or "Spinal Tap." Truth, fiction and absurdity are blended seamlessly in this film, which is that most rare creature, a "charming" Woody Allen movie that is a much more enjoyable experience than reading "Moby Dick."
Rating: 
Summary: If one seeks to be well-liked, one may sacrifice their soul.
Review: How far would you go towards being well liked? Would you sacrifice your own identity? This is a deeply philosophical film, one in which it questions certain fundamental assumptions we make on a daily basis. When we're with others, we can choose to be quite similar to the person we're speaking with, or we can choose the path of self-reliance, and be our own man. In this bitter and ironic film, Woody Allen asks us the question -- what is our choice? Individualism or collectivism? To be a yes man is to give away one's identity -- with no apparent benefits.
Rating: 
Summary: Has to be his worst film!
Review: I own about 20 Woody Allen movies on DVD and this one was never purchased by me, nor will it ever be. I love his movies (why else would I buy about 20 of them on DVD), but his experiment on this one fell well short - it bombed, and that's why you never hear about it, plain and simple. One reviwer compared it's style to the boring historical documents you are forced to watch in school, but he went on to say it was anything but boring. I disagree; it's nothing but boring, extremely boring and, for lack of a better word, stupid. Buy *any* other Woody Allen movie on DVD and you will own a better movie than this one.
Rating:
Summary: No More Pancakes...
Review: I really liked this movie. My favorite part is when Zelig (Woody Allen), in a hypnotic state just insults Mia Farrow (and her cooking...those pancakes really must have traumatized poor Zelig). A lot of the historical aspects were just lost on me, because I have no memory for history. But Woody was hilarious. He's great at improvising and you can always tell when he's just ad-libbing some jokes. I liked the documentary style and all of the interviewees were really believable and really funny. And how crazily funny was that Chameleon dance? My only complaint is I would have LOVED to see more of Eudora's mother; I died laughing every time she set that reporter straight. Everyone in this movie was really great and this was Woody & Mia at their best together. Now, I feel compeled to finally read (and actually finish) Moby Dick.
Rating:
Summary: No More Pancakes...
Review: I really liked this movie. My favorite part is when Zelig (Woody Allen), in a hypnotic state just insults Mia Farrow (and her cooking...those pancakes really must have traumatized poor Zelig). A lot of the historical aspects were just lost on me, because I have no memory for history. But Woody was hilarious. He's great at improvising and you can always tell when he's just ad-libbing some jokes. I liked the documentary style and all of the interviewees were really believable and really funny. And how crazily funny was that Chameleon dance? My only complaint is I would have LOVED to see more of Eudora's mother; I died laughing every time she set that reporter straight. Everyone in this movie was really great and this was Woody & Mia at their best together. Now, I feel compeled to finally read (and actually finish) Moby Dick.
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