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Aug 27, 2017Nursebob rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Allen’s preposterous pack of lies is told with a perfectly straight face by a cast of legitimate talking heads (Susan Sontag, Saul Bellow, Irving Howe) and given further credibility through grainy newsreel “cameos” from the likes of Fanny Brice, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Adolph Hitler—the latter throwing a hissy fit when Zelig, in Nazi drag, ruins a perfectly good Polish joke. An intricate blend of fancy and reality which seamlessly melds staged and archival footage (Allen actually used antique cameras and microphones for the Zelig bits) to produce a dry little comedy. It’s a one-joke production but with a running time of only eighty minutes the punchline doesn't have a chance to get stale.