Review of Zelig (1983) by Sean M — 09 Jun 2013

Woody Allen's Zelig is a mockumentary about Leonard Zelig, also played by Allen, a chameleon-like character who takes on the characteristics of those he is around in the 1920's. Like many other Woody Allen projects, Zelig is, as a whole, an underwhelming effort. This is truly one time that you could accuse Allen of choosing style over substance. Allen's strict adherence to the documentary structure, including authoritative narration, works to ultimately confine the work. All the humor and action is just moved along by the narrator, in order to setup and repeat one of the film's two jokes. The jokes surrounding this nothing man range from inserting him into old footage - He's behind Babe Ruth! He's behind Hitler - or him taking on the appearance of those around him - He's black! He's Asian! He's Scottish! The special effects used to believably insert Allen's Zelig in stock footage is impressive, but aren't really funny, let alone funny enough to carry the film.

Zelig marks Woody Allen's second attempt at the mockumentary, following his directorial debut, Take the Money and Run. The documentary structure is not as strictly adhered to in Take the Money and Run, which makes me wonder if Allen thinks that those breaks have a negative impact on the film. Allen does make statements concerning pop culture, celebrity, and himself as an artist and person, but I found them muddled in overall tone and structure of the film. Zelig, running at about 80 minutes, feels long and can never overcome the fact that it's a one joke film. I can only recommend it to die hard Woody Allen fans.