Mighty Aphrodite (1995)

When he discovers his adopted son is a genius, a New York sportswriter seeks out the boy's birth mother: a prostitute.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Pamela Blair, Rene Ceballos, Woody Allen

Won 1 Oscar. Another 13 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pamela Blair	...	Greek Chorus
Rene Ceballos	...	Greek Chorus (as René Ceballos)
Elie Chaib	...	Greek Chorus
George De La Pena	...	Greek Chorus
Joanne DiMauro	...	Greek Chorus
Denise Faye	...	Greek Chorus
Marian Filali	...	Greek Chorus (as Marianne Filali)
Angelo Fraboni	...	Greek Chorus
Scott Fowler	...	Greek Chorus
Seth Gertsacov	...	Greek Chorus
Patti Karr	...	Greek Chorus
Fred Mann III	...	Greek Chorus
John Mineo	...	Greek Chorus
Christopher Nelson	...	Greek Chorus
Valda Setterfield	...	Greek Chorus

Storyline

Lenny and Amanda have an adopted son Max who turns out to be brilliant. Lenny becomes obsessed with finding Max's real parents because he believes that they too must be brilliant. When he finds that Linda Ash is Max' real mother, Lenny is disappointed. Linda is a prostitute and porn star. On top of that, she is quite possibly the dumbest person Lenny has ever met. Interwoven is a Greek chorus linking the story with the story of Oedipus.

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Plot Keywords:

prostitute | adopted son | greek chorus | adoption | new york | 

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Taglines:

The new comedy from Woody Allen

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sex-related material

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 January 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Poderosa Afrodita

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$6,700,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sweetland Films, Magnolia Pictures, Miramax Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR (Mono)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Lenny and Linda are at the restaurant we see several framed photos of celebrities on the wall nearby. Some of the celebrities featured are actors Robert De Niro (a still photo from Raging Bull), Leonard Nimoy, Brooke Shields, James Garner and musician Chuck Mangione.

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Goofs

At Belmont Park, Linda calls Lenny (Woody Allen) "Woody."

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Quotes

Kevin: I've had 16 fights and I won all of them but 12.

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Crazy Credits

The Greek Chorus does the "When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles At You)" song-and-dance production number over half the credits.

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Connections

Featured in Woody Allen: A Life in Film (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Penthouse Serenade (When We're Alone)"
(1952)
Written by Will Jason and Val Burton
Performed by Erroll Garner
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

'When you smile (...) the world smiles with you'

I can say that "Mighty Aphrodite" is the film that made me really appreciate Woody Allen's films. His direction is great, and so is the screenplay in the majority of his pictures.

The story of "Mighty Aphrodite" is magic, light, funny and beautiful. The idea of the Greek chorus is just incredible! All the cast is great, but the best one is really Mira Sorvino. She deserved her Oscar playing Linda Ash, a nice and ingenuous prostitute.

So if you like Woody Allen's films, you'll surely love this one like I did.