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:

new york city | talking about sex | husband wife relationship | hot | blind man | 

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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 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

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where the football practice is taking place, one of the players in shorts, T-shirt and a baseball cap is legendary 49ers quarterback Joe Montana.

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Goofs

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

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Quotes

Chorus: Lenny, don't be a schmuck!

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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 High Impact Football (1990)

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Soundtracks

Take Five
(1959)
Written by Paul Desmond
Performed by Dave Brubeck Quartet (as The Dave Brubeck Quartet)
On Columbia Records
Courtesy of Disney Music Company

User Reviews

Charming, imaginative look at fate, heredity and love

This is a charming movie - particularly the parts played by the boxer-onion farmer, and prostitute/porn star, and their two scenes together. Allen's character's efforts sense of what happier direction the prostitute's life could take and his efforts to reform her, are also exactly what most of us would do if we discovered that she was the biological mother of our adopted child.

Allen has such imagination - and such an understanding of how people of varying education and background, talk and move, and what they care about.

I did feel the subplot involving Helena Bonham-Carter, her career and Peter Weller, was less imaginative, less interesting. I've always had trouble warming to Bonham-Carter - perhaps it's just how unlikeable virtually all her roles have been - and this role didn't help.

Mira Sorvino's character sounds amusingly like Victoria Jackson from Saturday Night Live - her figure is so eye-popping, and her sweetness so endearing that she definitely is the memorable character for anyone who sees the movie. "Oh, that's the one with Mira Sorvino" is undoubtedly how people would remember this movie. However, the Greek chorus was a wonderful idea - and Jack Warner in a small role as a blind seer, and F. Murray Abraham as the principal chorus member/conscience of the movie is also wonderful.