2/5 A Wooden Allen Bomb
  by R. Bagula (Lakeside, Ca United States)
All the Greek Masks and Greek Chorus isn't going to make this movie less tasteless and ugly.
How a porn star find happiness with a helicopter pilot...
with a Greek Chorus?
Really you wouldn't expect such tripe from Woody Allen.
That he could drag so many down with him
is just some sort of social contagion?
Mira Sorvino actually does a good acting job as the porn queen hooker.
Helena Bonham Cater plays to Gothic make up that makes her look like a B movie vampire.
Since Woody Allen wrote and directed this bomb, he pretty much plays himself as usual? He just has regressed in his sense of humor
to a more infantile stage maybe?
I just didn't like this film at all.

5/5 a very good film with plenty of OCD---"obsessive comedy disorder"
  by Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service)
Mighty Aphrodite is one of Woody Allen's better films. It has great acting by a wonderful cast; and there's an interesting plot moving along at a very good pace. The cinematography and choreography are both excellent throughout the film; and the editing was very well done. There's not too much that could have been cut here!

When the action begins, we see Lenny and Amanda Weinrib (Woody Allen and Helena Bonham Carter) having dinner in a fancy restaurant with some friends who are expecting a baby. Amanda says she wants a child, too; but at first Lenny balks. When Amanda suggests an adoption, Lenny very reluctantly gives in--but when Lenny sees their newborn adopted son for the first time he instantly loves his song very tenderly.

As time passes, the Weinribs live their lives; and it becomes abundantly clear that their young son Max is brilliant. Max gets into a very special school for gifted children and he can handle it all. Eventually Lenny wants to know just why their son Max (Jimmy McQuaid) is so especially bright. Lenny goes to the adoption agency he and Amanda used to find out just who are Max's biological parents. All he initially gets is a rather standard answer that they can't give out any information except that there was only a mother and no father involved; but when Lenny steals the adoption file he becomes obsessed with finding Max's biological mother.

And he does find her. She's Linda Ash (Mira Sorvino), the kind of actress who makes adult films with men. In addition, she isn't exactly the brightest candle in the chandelier, either. This amazes and even slightly horrifies Lenny at first; but he pays for time with Linda (since that is her business as well) and eventually Lenny and Linda actually form a true friendship. Lenny tries hard to find a suitable man for Linda so that he can "reform" her; he knows that one day his son Max may want to know Linda and Lenny doesn't want Max to find out that his mother was living this lifestyle.

After some trouble with a man who takes a percentage of what Linda makes (ahem) and some fast sales talk, Lenny thinks he may have found a suitable man for Linda named Kevin (Michael Rapaport). Kevin just might be the man who can take Linda away from Manhattan and give her a new lease on life. Kevin's a boxer but he yearns to return soon to his upstate New York farm so that he can get out of New York City himself.

The plot can go anywhere from here. As it turns out, Kevin and Linda don't stay together--will Linda find a man on her own? What about the fact that Lenny's wife has been secretly sharing romantic time alone with her business associate Jerry Bender (Peter Weller)? Will Lenny and Amanda be able to patch up their differences? Watch and find out!

Of course, there's also the theme of the "Greek Chorus" running throughout the film; they function primarily as narrators from time to time. Much can be made of their significance; and kudos to those reviewers who wrote about this angle of the film.

Overall, Mighty Aphrodite showcases the wonderful talents of the actors in this movie although Michael Rapaport could have received a little more screen time. The idea of using the "Greek Chorus" to narrate and highlight what was running through Lenny Weinrib's mind was very clever and this worked well. I highly recommend this fine motion picture for anyone who enjoys good quality comedy with excellent acting.


3/5 2.5 stars out of 4
  by One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
The Bottom Line:

One of Woody Allen's more minor works, Mighty Aphrodite is pleasant enough and features a winning performance by Mira Sorvino, but doesn't have the staying power or distinctiveness of his better films.

5/5 A mighty fine example of lightweight brilliance...
  by Andrew Ellington (Mulholland Drive)
Woody Allen has such a brilliantly quirky way with dialog that I am just drawn to everything that he does now, within reason. I am not biased to his films as many have become. I love him, truly, and laud him as one of our greatest working directors, but he is not without misstep.

Thankfully, `Mighty Aphrodite' is not a misstep.

The film tells the story of Lenny, the adoptive father of a genius. Struggling to find himself within his own marriage, Lenny decides to seek out his son's biological mother and what he finds is not what he imagined. Linda, a street-walker, is no where near the genius her son is, but there is a humanity within her that strikes Lenny and endears him. He meets her under the premise of being another `john' but he forms a bond with her that defies the boundaries of her profession. He becomes a father to her; a mature (seemingly) male figure in her life, which up until that moment was devoid of any real strong male influence (positive at least). Lenny is able to then exercise his own feelings of inadequacy with his wife through his relationship with Linda; being to her what he could only wish to be for his wife; interesting.

`Mighty Aphrodite' is expertly written, as are most (notice I said most) of Allen's films. This is one of those movies that knows how to grip you and then subtly move you in ways you may not immediately expect; and Allen's grasp of Greek literature (as seen through his inclusion of a Greek Chorus Line) is intelligent and just adds yet another layer to set this movie apart from most other comedies.

The acting is also very well done, even if Allen and Sorvino are the only two who truly own the film. Woody Allen has an acting style that is love or hate. It's conditional at that, for I love him sometimes and hate him others, even though his style never changes. It all has to do with the subject and context. Here he works very well. Sorvino is even better though, taking that average dumb blonde and giving her a spark not so often seen. Many have attacked her and this performance for winning the Oscar, and while she was not deserving of that little golden man (how Winslet lost that year is just beyond me) she was very deserving of a nomination. She is absolutely lovely here.

The film is not Allen's finest; don't get me wrong, but there is little to complain about. It doesn't feel as deeply complete as `Deconstructing Harry' was or as richly relative as `Annie Hall', but it connects with the viewer, and especially the ending has a twist of humanity and realism I didn't expect but utterly enjoyed.

It's lighter fare for the Allen supporter; so dig right in and enjoy.

5/5 Mira is a cup full for Woody
  by Jane
Possibly the best co-actor Woody has ever had in any of his many delightful movies is Mira Sorvino in this funny story. You can't help love Woody Allen all the time. He is likable and funny.