The picture is thoroughly charming. It’s quick and deft and it races along. I admired the delicate care with which it was made... But when I see comparisons with Citizen Kane in the papers, I don’t know what the writers are talking about.

| Sep 13, 2023

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.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 7, 2022

Excellently paced, smartly conceived, cleverly written, and impressively different from writer/director Woody Allen’s previous efforts.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Sep 22, 2022

This beautifully realized bit of flimflam was Allen’s most purely cinematic effort up to that time.

| Original Score: B | Aug 30, 2022

I found the picture's cod-documentary structure rather limiting and after a while I started wishing that the real movie would start.

| Aug 1, 2022

Almost pure Allen id, an exploration of his own eagerness to be liked.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 5, 2019

If the sum of Allen's career can be seen as a series of destinations on a road to self-discovery, then this strange, off-the-cuff "mockumentary" provides the most unlikely roadmap.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 3, 2019

Zelig is certain to rank among the most talked-about movies of this or any season. It is the most innovative film yet from the fertile imagination of Woody Allen, who proves that despite a few misses along with hits, he is never dull.

| Mar 4, 2019

A sublime comic parable about the quest for identity.

| May 1, 2017

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.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 7, 2016

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.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 22, 2011

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 16, 2011

Lampooning documentary tradition by structuring the entire film as a meticulously crafted bogus docu, Woody Allen tackles some serious stuff en route

| Jul 7, 2010

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 22, 2008

Woody Allen's Zelig (1983) perfected the fake documentary a year before This Is Spinal Tap.

| Sep 8, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 7, 2007

Hilarious Woody Allen vehicle, a mockumentary with special effects ahead of its time.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 8, 2006

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.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 24, 2006

Allen is one of the most recognizable, and least protean, performers.... [P]erhaps ... someone else as Zelig ... could have got the idea across without the blandly explicit dialogue and brought more dimensions to the role, besides.

| Jan 17, 2006

Woody Allen's comedy about a self-effacing man, who swiftly changes identities is original, clever, droll, and extremely well shot by ace lenser Gordon Willis.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 2, 2005