Review of Zelig (1983) by Cody D — 15 Dec 2009
A very crafty mockumentary about Leonard Zelig, the man without a personality. He got famous in the twenties as the human chameleon. When he was among doctors, he turned into a doctor. He could turn into a black man or an Indian, and among Jews he could turn into a rabbi.
He is a conformist in the extremest sense and in a way he is the ultimate Jew trying to adapt, to integrate, and to please everybody. After a while he gets cured by his psychiatrist Eudora Fletcher, starts to have opinions of his own, and patient and psychiatrist become famous.
Then the lawsuits start as Zelig gets accused of having several wives and children, and of posing as a dentist and a surgeon. In the middle of a dinner in a Greek restaurant, Zelig has a major fallback when he turns into a Greek.
After that, he disappears for a while, and Eudora finds out he has joined the national-socialist party in Germany. Doctor Fletcher manages to escape with Zelig by plane, which he is able to fly as soon as he turned into a pilot.
When they arrive in America, the couple is famous once more and they marry.
This review of Zelig (1983) was written by Cody D on 15 Dec 2009.
Zelig has generally received very positive reviews.
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