Mighty Aphrodite
Release date: 1995-09-13
Votes: 723
Genres: Comedy, Romance
When Lenny and his wife, Amanda, adopt a baby, Lenny realizes that his son is a genius and becomes obsessed with finding the boy's biological mother in hopes that she will be brilliant too. But when he learns that Max's mother is Linda Ash, a kindhearted prostitute and porn star, Lenny is determined to reform her immoral lifestyle. A Greek chorus chimes in to relate the plot to Greek mythology in this quirky comedy.
Reviews
Wuchak
**_An older man befriends a kindhearted prostitute_** A Manhattan scriptwriter (Woody Allen) meets the young mother of his adopted boy, a hooker (Mira Sorvino), and tries to help her situation. Meanwhile, his wife (Helena Bonham Carter) is caught up in her ambitious work as a curator of art galleries, not to mention the serious flirting of a colleague (Peter Weller). A Greek chorus occasionally chimes in (F. Murray Abraham, etc.), linking the story to that of Oedipus. “Mighty Aphrodite” (1995) is a quirky comedy set in Manhattan, which is unsurprising with Woody at the helm. The heart of the plot, described in my title blurb above, is reminiscent of “Hardcore” (1979) minus the gravity. Both Helena and Mira were in their prime and look great in totally opposite ways. The flick is amusing, touching and ironic. I enjoyed the audacious Greek chorus element, something few filmmakers could pull off, but Woody does so effortlessly. The movie runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in Manhattan with the Greek chorus scenes done at Teatro Greco on Sicily, Italy. GRADE: B
CinemaSerf
To minimise the inconvenience to their daily lives, a married couple adopt a baby from birth, but by the time he is five the fizz has rather gone out of their marriage. He's a sports journalist and is a bit bored with her (Helena Bonham Carter) more "arty" friends whom she knows from her all-consuming work in her gallery. When their adopted son "Max" starts to show signs that ne might just be some sort of a prodigy, dad "Lenny" (Woody Allen) decides that he wants to try to track down the birth mother. Imagine his disappointment when he discovers that it's "Linda" (Mira Sorvino). She's an expensive hooker with hopeless aspirations to get on the stage and as thick as two short planks into the bargain. He decides that maybe he can help her out of her wicked ways, so tries to set her up with one of his pals so she can better conform to his own expectations of the parent of this boy genius. All the while, "Lenny" (and the audience) is being informed and guided by an ensemble of artistes from an ancient greek chorus who offer him sagely words of wisdom and prophecy which he invariably chooses to disregard - and so what ensues can at times resemble a work that might just have made Aeschylus proud. Allen always just seems the same to me, and here is no different, but Sorvino really does deliver the goods as the well-meaning woman who has an honesty streak a mile wide. Of course, there's the obligatory age gap between the two, and between him and his wife (she's thirty years his junior) which again serves to fuel the frustrations of a man who seems determined never to be satisfied - but hey, isn't that true of most Woody Allen films. There is some wit from the observational script but it's really all down to the comically potent artistes delivering their warnings of woe and joy and to a superbly engaging Sorvino to make this work. They do.
Movie Recommendation
Everyone Says I Love You1996-12-06A New York girl sets her father up with a beautiful woman in a shaky marriage while her half sister gets engaged.More...
Bullets Over Broadway1994-10-14After young playwright, David Shayne obtains funding for his play from gangster Nick Valenti, Nick's girlfriend Olive miraculously lands the role of a psychiatrist—but not only is she a bimbo who could never pass for a psychiatrist—she's a dreadful actress. David puts up with the leading man who is a compulsive eater, the grand dame who wants her part jazzed up, and Olive's interfering hitman/bodyguard—but, eventually he must decide whether art or life is more important.More...
Summer Snow1995-05-04Tells the story of the relationship between a widower with Alzheimer's disease and his daughter-in-law, May Sun, who is a housewife in her forties trying cope with the upheavals in her family.More...
Trio2019-02-13Wim, a loner who prefers to stay in and binge watch TV on his birthday, is offered a surprise by his half brother Gert: an hour with Angelique, a sophisticated prostitute.More...
Don't Drink the Water1994-12-18Somewhere behind the early 1960s cold-war iron curtain, the Hollander family cause an international spying incident when Walter photographs a sunset in a sensitive region. In order to stay out of jail, the Hollanders take refuge in the American Embassy, which is temporarily being run by the absent Ambassador's diplomatically incompetent son, Axel.More...
UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine2009-03-07UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). It was held in Columbus, Ohio on March 7, 2009 at Nationwide Arena. The card was headlined by a Light Heavyweight bout between Quinton Jackson and Keith Jardine. Following the main event, Rashad Evans, training partner of Jardine and then-Light Heavyweight Champion, entered the cage and publicly challenged Jackson. It resulted in a long-standing feud between the two that would not be settled until 2010.More...
Light in the Tropics2020-02-25A film like a monument: Luz nos Trópicos is a tribute to the rich greens of the Amazon and the forests of New England in winter, celebrating the indigenous peoples of continental America and flowing as a film as freely as a winding river.More...
Blame it on Paradise1985-12-19A former convict discovers that his son has been adopted by a couple living on the mountains and tries to establish a contact with himMore...
Husbands and Wives1992-09-18When their best friends announce that they're separating, a professor and his wife discover the faults in their own marriage.More...
Ordinary Miracle1978-10-02A wizard invents characters who all come to life and start to arrive at his house: a King, his servants, a princes, a bear trapped in a man's body - the usual lot. The Plot mainly rotates around the bear, who the wizard had turned into a man. The Bear, who wishes to be a bear once again, can turn into his old self if he were to kiss a princess. It gets complicated when he falls in love with that princess, that arrived at the wizard's house. For how can they be together, if a single kiss will destroy their love?More...
The Dish2000-10-19A group of maverick scientists on a remote Australian sheep farm are the globe's only hope for obtaining the epic images of man's first steps on the moon.More...
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion2001-08-10CW Briggs is a veteran insurance investigator, with many successes. Betty Ann Fitzgerald is a new employee in the company he works for, with the task of reorganizing the office. They don't like each other - or at least that's what they think. During a night out with the rest of the office employees, they go to watch Voltan, a magician who secretly hypnotizes both of them.More...
Stardust Memories1980-09-26While attending a retrospect of his work, a filmmaker recalls his life and his loves: the inspirations for his films.More...
Super High Me2007-10-13Determined to find out the true effects of marijuana on the human body, stand-up comedian and former Stoner of the Year Doug Benson documents his experience avoiding pot for 30 days and then consuming massive amounts of the drug for 30 days. More than just an amusing story of one man's quest to get superhigh, this documentary also examines the hotly contested debate over medical marijuana use.More...
Without a Clue1988-05-05Sherlock Holmes is as dashing as ever, but with a little secret: Dr. Watson is the brains behind the operation. When Reginald Kincaid, the actor he has hired to play Holmes becomes insufferable, Watson fires him and tries to go out on his own, but finds that he has done too good a job building Holmes up in the public's mind.More...
Small Time Crooks2000-05-19A loser of a crook and his wife strike it rich when a botched bank job's cover business becomes a spectacular success.More...
Shadows and Fog1991-12-05With a serial strangler on the loose, a bookkeeper wanders around town searching for the vigilante group intent on catching the killer.More...
Page Eight2011-08-28Johnny is a long-serving MI5 officer. His boss dies suddenly, leaving behind an inexplicable file which threatens the stability of the organisation.More...
Mr. Stein Goes Online2017-02-17Pierre, widowed and retired, has not been out of his house for two years. He discovers the joys of the internet thanks to Alex, a young man hired by his daughter to teach him the basics of computer science. On a meeting place, a charming young woman, Flora63, seduced by the romanticism of Pierre, offers her a first date. Lovers, Pierre is back. But on his profile he put a picture of Alex and not his own. Pierre must convince the young man to meet Flora in his placeMore...
The Nest2019-08-15Samuel, a boy who lives with his mother Elena in Villa dei Laghi, an isolated manor surrounded by woods, feels trapped in the family routine, growing up seemingly protected, but unsatisfied and restless.More...
Similar Movies
Live Flesh
1997-10-10When Victor attempts to seduce Elena, all he gets for his trouble is a one-way, six-year ticket to prison, where he concentrates on strengthening his mind, his body... and his desire for vengeance on the man who put him there. After his release and still madly in love with her, Victor will stop at nothing to win her over even if means revenge, for Elena has married David, the cop who sent him to prison!True Romance
1993-09-09Clarence marries hooker Alabama, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood, while the owners of the coke try to reclaim it.Belle de Jour
1967-05-24Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life....But Johnny!
1973-05-01The charm of the beautiful Jonny is of a frightening effectiveness on the women. He uses it to create his company which offers his talents to lonely ladies. His business is going great and he is getting rich. But will Jonny be able to provide quality services for a long time?Memoirs of a Geisha
2005-12-06In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.Flirting with Disaste...
1996-03-22Adopted as a child, new father Mel Colpin decides he cannot name his son until he knows his birth parents, and determines to make a cross-country quest to find them. Accompanied by his wife, Nancy, and an inept yet gorgeous adoption agent, Tina, he departs on an epic road trip that quickly devolves into a farce of mistaken identities, wrong turns, and overzealous and love-struck ATF agents.Momo
1986-07-16Momo is a young orphan girl who lives in the ruins of an old Roman amphitheater and becomes friends with everybody in the neighborhood. But when a powerful international corporation starts stealing everybody’s time, nobody has any time left for her, let alone their friends or families. Momo, together with Master Hora, the custodian of time, are the only ones who can go up against the time thieves before all is lost forever.Leaving Las Vegas
1995-10-27Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.Borat: Cultural Learn...
2006-11-01Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev travels to America to make a documentary. As he zigzags across the nation, Borat meets real people in real situations with hysterical consequences. His backwards behavior generates strong reactions around him exposing prejudices and hypocrisies in American culture.Marnie
1964-07-17Marnie is a beautiful but emotionally withdrawn thief, stealing from employers before disappearing under new identities. When her new boss, Mark Rutland, discovers her secret, his fascination turns to obsession, and he blackmails her into marriage, convinced he can cure her. But as he probes deeper into Marnie’s fractured mind, long-buried fears and compulsions begin to surface.Scoop
2006-07-27An American journalism student in London scoops a big story, and begins an affair with an aristocrat as the incident unfurls.Shanghai Express
1932-02-12A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.The Flintstones
1994-05-27Modern Stone Age family the Flintstones hit the big screen in this live-action version of the classic cartoon. Fred helps Barney adopt a child. Barney sees an opportunity to repay him when Slate Mining tests its employees to find a new executive. But no good deed goes unpunished.Meet the Robinsons
2007-03-23Lewis, a brilliant young inventor, is keen on creating a time machine to find his mother, who abandoned him in an orphanage. Things take a turn when he meets Wilbur Robinson and his family.Kabhi Khushi Kabhie G...
2001-12-14Years after his father disowns his adopted brother for marrying a woman of lower social standing, a young man goes on a mission to reunite his family.Jumbo
2025-03-31Desperate to prove to his peers that he’s more than a chubby kid that never wins at anything, little Don wishes to win his local talent show by performing a stageplay inspired from a storybook written by his late parents. When unfortunately a bully stole that book, at the same time a little ghost appeared from the spirit world asking for Don’s help to reunite her with her parents’ spirits. The two new friends then embark on an exciting adventure to help each other and learn the true meaning of friendship.Elf
2003-11-07When young Buddy falls into Santa's gift sack on Christmas Eve, he's transported back to the North Pole and raised as a toy-making elf by Santa's helpers. But as he grows into adulthood, he can't shake the nagging feeling that he doesn't belong. Buddy vows to visit Manhattan and find his real dad, a workaholic.Barfly
1987-09-02Downtrodden writer Henry and distressed goddess Wanda aren't exactly husband and wife: they're wedded to their bar stools. But, they like each other's company—and Barfly captures their giddy, gin-soaked attempts to make a go of life on the skids.Joe Dirt
2001-04-10Joe Dirt is a janitor with a mullet hairdo, acid-washed jeans and a dream to find the parents that he lost at the Grand Canyon when he was a belligerent, trailer park-raised eight-year-old. Now, blasting Van Halen in his jacked-up economy car, the irrepressibly optimistic Joe hits the road alone in search of his folks.Revolutionen i vandka...
1971-03-22There is no description