Mighty Aphrodite (1995)

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

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Woody Allen, Mira Sorvino, Pamela Blair

Won 1 Oscar. Another 11 wins & 13 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:

adopted son | new york city | talking about sex | husband wife relationship | hot | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to her SAG AFTRA interview (on youtube) Mira Sorvino trialed her "Linda Ash" character in real life to perfect her voice, mannerisms and style. She negotiated the purchase of a camera in character

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Goofs

Amanda tells Lenny that a day-old baby is available for adoption. Moments later, she tells him the baby was born that morning.

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Quotes

Lenny Weinrib: Adopt, what. I don't want to adopt. Not with my genes. I have award winning genes.

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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

Features Revolution-X (1995)

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Soundtracks

When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You)
(1928)
Written by Mark Fisher, Joe Goodwin & Larry Shay
Performed by the Dick Hyman Chorus & Orchestra

User Reviews

Superb balance between sophistication and corn

Spike Jones once said that his material was too corny for sophisticated people but too sophisticated for corny people. Woody Allen's material can lend itself to similar critique. Mighty Aphrodite has a superb balance between sophistication and corn.

The Greek chorus idea is very well used, both at a sophisticated level - the film is essentially a modernised Greek drama - and at a corn level (when the chorus morphed into a more Broadway-style chorus Janie avoided the cheese by going into the kitchen and uncorking the wine). The Greek myth theme is well done throughout - I loved the appeal to Zeus especially. Also the deus ex machina resolution was terrific fun, although I think not entirely original (I believe it was Cocteau who previously used the helicopter as a visual deus ex machina).

Fine performances - Mira Sorvino is a super "tart with a heart". Even Helena Bonham Carter is more effectively used in this film than in her standard Merchant Ivory roles, although I thought she lacked chemistry with Woody. Good also to see F Murray Abraham as the leader of the chorus - why do we see so little of him these days?

I'm a fan of Woody, but he has been patchy in the last 10 years or so. With this one, he really was in sparkling form. Well worth seeing.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

10 November 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mighty Aphrodite

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$326,494, 29 October 1995

Gross USA:

$6,468,498

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,468,498

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sweetland Films, Magnolia Pictures, Miramax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR (Mono)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1