Ty Burr Ty Burr's Watch List (Substack) Jan 27, 2026 4/4

Zelig is a movie that will remain timeless as long as people are willing to sell their souls to be part of something. It’s very funny until the laughs stick in your throat.

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Pauline Kael The New Yorker Sep 13, 2023

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.

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Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Sep 22, 2022 8/10

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

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Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault Aug 30, 2022 B

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

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John Brosnan Starburst Aug 1, 2022

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

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Ellie Lucas From the Front Row Jun 5, 2019 3.5/4

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

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David Keyes Cinemaphile.org Jun 3, 2019 3.5/4

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.

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Linda Deutsch Associated Press Mar 4, 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.

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Gary Arnold Washington Post May 1, 2017

A sublime comic parable about the quest for identity.

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Peter Bradshaw Guardian Dec 22, 2011 5/5

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.

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Jennie Kermode Eye for Film Dec 16, 2011 4/5

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Variety Staff Variety Jul 7, 2010

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

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Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com Oct 22, 2008 4/5

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Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid Sep 8, 2007

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

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Chuck O'Leary FulvueDrive-in.com May 7, 2007 3/5

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Steve Crum Dispatch-Tribune Newspapers Dec 8, 2006 5/5

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

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Tom Huddleston Time Out Jun 24, 2006 4/5

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.

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Alan Dale Blogcritics.org Jan 17, 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.

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Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Jul 2, 2005 B+

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.

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Boo Allen Denton Record-Chronicle Jul 31, 2004 5/5

Brilliant early film of the woodman shows his creative genius as a filmmaker.

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