One of Woody Allen's more offbeat efforts, 1983's ZELIG is a faux-documentary about a man that takes on the chameleon like ability to adapt to the people around him.
Allen plays Leonard Zelig, who has such a strong desire to fit in that he literally becomes Asian around Asians, obese around the obese, tall around tall. It's all played as a straight black & white documentary with narration and is very clever in the way it inserts Zelig into countless historical scenes.
Mia Farrow plays Dr. Eudora Fletcher, who works with Zelig for years to find the root of his unique physical abilities. As their relationship moves from doctor/patient to something more, they battle the curse of his fame together.
There are numerous famous folks both real and imagined that are interviewed and share their encounters with Leonard the Lizard.
It's fun, clever and lightweight and you have to love a director like Allen that KNOWS this is lightweight fun and brings it in at 79 minutes instead of stretching it to 2 hours and diluting the experience.
We'll give Zelig a well camouflaged B.
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