Customer Reviews

Mighty Aphrodite (Widescreen)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Love this movie, Mira Sorvino is fantastic and one of Woody Allen's best films. I got my DVD quickly and it was in great condition. No complaints.

It has all the subtlety of a train wreck. Woody Allen is a clever man, and indeed there are several good zingers, but each one is repeated in such a juvenile manner that I fear Mr. Allen doesn't give his audience enough credit for getting it the first time.

For example, there is a scene where Woody is matchmaking two idiots. He declines their invitation to join them by saying, "No, thank you. I'm superfluous." To which one idiot replies, "Oh, you're not feeling well?" What a great zinger! But then he belabors the joke by going on: "No, SUPERFLUOUS. Uh... superfluous means unneccessary... I'd only get in the way..." This sort of audience-coddling continues throughout the movie, right up to the end, where even the final scene is amended with a clumsy explanation for the dim-witted. The movie ends with the same gag (a Broadway-Greek chorus) that has already been done 3 times in the last 95 minutes. We got it the first time, Woody.

Acting? You'll hardly notice. The characters are such obvious, stereotypical caricatures that they become entirely boring and predictable--if not offensive to Jews, women, boxers, hairdressers, husbands, wives and barkeeps. I was embarrassed for the lot of them.

Unless you, too, are stuck in the sixties, you might do yourself a favor by skipping this one. Woody even managed to waste the incredible talent of F. Murray Abraham!

Woody Allen at his funniest (and *raunchiest*--not for the prudish), particularly during his scenes with Mira Sorvino, who walks off with the film as a ditzy porn starlet. The only thing that prevents this from a full-out four-star rating is a baffling framing device in which characters from Greek mythology drop into the story from time to time to comment on the action. It's annoying and rarely funny.

Mighty Aphrodite is one of the strongest Woody Allen films of the last ten years. Here Allen has cast some strong performers, especially noteworthy is Mira Sorvino who steals the film with her character. What a delight she is to watch!

Woody plays Woody of course and he's in a marriage fraught with problems but completely absorbed by his own quest for his adopted child's mother. What works is Sorvino matches his intensity and almost outshines him when they are on the screen together.

An enjoyable and fun film!

MIGHTY APHRODITE is Woody Allen's wildly successful stab at Greek comedy/tragedy. He stars as Lenny Weinrib, a sportswriter married to ambitious Amanda Sloan (Helena Bonham Carter), who desperately wants her own art gallery in New York City and is willing to play the game to get it. Amanda convinces a reluctant Lenny to adopt, and they end up with a beautiful baby boy they decide to name Max. He grows up to be bright and very intelligent for his age, so Lenny becomes obsessed with finding out who Max's biological parents are. O course, he is not exactly happy when he discovers that the mother is a high-pitched actress wanna-be who is also a minor porn star and hooker (Mira Sorvino, in an Oscar-winning performance). Lenny is determined to turn her life around--but at the same time is forced to examine his own marriage, which is slowly falling apart.

Allen intersperses New York City vignettes with hysterical scenes of a Greek chorus, led by F. Murray Abraham, chiming in about Lenny's life, comparing it to Greek drama, and breaking out into song-and-dance numbers. It works exceptionally well and adds a fascinating element to the already intriguing plot.

The film is not for all tastes, but it is wonderfully written, witty, incisive, and funny. It is a charmingly light comedy full of delicious performances and cleverly executed dialogue. Woody Allen delivers a film that is fascinating on all levels and as beautifully structured as a glorious piece of art. A superb little gem!

It's a typical Woody Allen nervous character starring opposite a hilariously foul-mouthed Mira Sorvino in "Mighty Aphrodite." BTW, Tyresius was from Thebes, to clear that up from a previous reviewer (Classical Greek major here). Sorvino artfully drops some bombs that are funny just based on the shock value. After she and Woody first hook up for a jaunt about town and they return outside her apartment, she says, "I feel like I owe you a big f......" and you think "-avor" (favor) is coming next. But NO! True to her character, "uck" follows the f! Really funny line, but not a film to watch with the kids -- hence the R rating.

Someone said that Mighty Aphrodite is a not an excellent production as it attempts to put in the ancient Greek elements, but fails to follow the formula of tragedy. But, what I can't disagree more is that Woody Allen did not intend to produce a tragedy. What I believe is that the director transforms the
genre of ancient Greek tragedy by making it humourous and comical. Remember what the ending of the movie tells us? "Keep smiling because the whole world will smile with you".

There is no dull scene in the movie. Every line is elaborately and carefully written - with wit. If you simply read the script, you can already tell the mentality of different characters. The usually neurotic (again!)Lenny (Woody Allen), the high-pitched, low-IQed Linda Ash (or Judy CUM!) (Miro Sorvino). There can't be a theatre in the world filled with silence when this movie is shown. Laughters and gigglings should be overwhelming the house.

I personally like the Greek chorus scenes and the ending, which is so ironic that Linda and Lenny got each other's child, but still knew nothing about it.

Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and pleasure, and watching Mighty Aphrodite is absolutely a pleasurable experience.

Woody Allen has never made a truly bad film. On the other hand, judged by his own exceptionally high standard of film-making, he can be pretty hit-and-miss. This one is a sure hit. Mighty Aphrodite is a modern myth, ingeniously told through the lens of classical Greek mythology, about a man who sets out on the fabulous quest for beauty. Woody is a father who tries to find the mother of his adopted son, in the belief that the mother of the child he idolizes will represent perfection. As always in Woody's world, things don't quite turn out as planned.

Mira Sorvino is charming, and Woody is - well, WOODY. This also features one of Dick Hyman's best scores (arranged from a number of jazz classics, as usual). And, as ever, one of America's greatest directors skillfully blends fantasy and reality, life and art to create a heartwarming comedy-drama. People tend to perceive Woody as essentially a cynic: In fact, his cynicism is always tempered by a genuine sense of hope; this is keenly felt in one of the director's best nineties films.

The key to a great Woody Allen film is always the dialogue. It made Annie Hall a bizarre take on a very original
idea. But that is the charm of Woody Allen, he takes everyday things completely twists them up with wit and satire and the overall
product is something both entertaining and very nicely polished.

Here he takes adoption by the horns ... Anyway, he's married to Helena Bonham Carter they decide to have a baby, they do, they love it and then
suddenly Woody wants to meet the boy's mother.

What Woody discovers is that the boy's mother is a adult actress wanting to make it big that has starred in the most
outrageous of pornos and is now working in prostitution. Except, she doesn't work the streets she more rather, makes appointments ...

Woody becomes enamored by the prostitute mostly because she's a colorful character and he can't believe she
conceived his son. They come close to falling in love, but it's more of a fascination than anything. (typical Woody move)
Here, he connects the story in tune with Greek mythology, there are hilarious scenes in which Woody consults with the Gods as
to what to do.

Mira Sorvino, who plays the prostitute, won a Well deserved Oscar for her performance. She completely holds the
audience by the throat with her ditzy hooker with a big heart. The reason I loved this movie so much was the exchange of advice.
Woody with the Gods, and then his relationship with the hooker. His relationship with his actual wife in the movie is sort of side-plotted
and isn't very important but maybe it is. Maybe Woody was showing sub-consciously even, that sometimes you can go looking for
your baby's mother and you wonder if it's the power between you raising it and her inner feelings as a mother, to be a replacement
for an unhappy marriage? That sounds complicated and I must admit is trivial to the plot, but I sort of felt sorry for Woody in this film.
The bond between him and Mira Sorvino developed in something more than lust and love, it was almost like finding your best friend.

The dialogue in this film is particularly mature, filled with curse words and extremely perverse references the film is
unsuitable for children of any age and might offend those who enjoy Woody Allen movies and expect a sweet tale. Just a warning,
the language is very graphic. I'd also like to mention Michael Turturro's performance as the dumb boxer, suits him well and he makes
him a lovely addition to this almost perfect film.

This is one gem of a romantic comedy. With all of the delicious allusions to Greek mythology & the props for Greek theatre, one would not be going too far to call it a "cultured" romantic comedy. What really stands out is how the references to archetypal Greek images are tied in so nicely with the storyline.

I must concede I've not seen many Woody Allen films, but he was terrific as a coy and eccentric sportswriter. Likewise, Mira Sorvino is beyond charming as a naive but good natured harlot.

If you're looking for a feel good movie, you can't do much better than this. If you want an RC movie that is funny and yet has more substance than most others, you can't go wrong with MIGHTY APRHODITE. Somewhere above the clouds, I can't help but think that Aristophanes is watching this film over & over again.....and he's loving every minute of it!