Mighty Aphrodite
1995
MIGHTY APHRODITE is Woody Allen's stab at Greek comedy/tragedy, and it is wildly successful. Allen 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 .. Read more
| Starring | F. Murray Abraham, Woody Allen, Claire Bloom, Helena Bonham-Carter |
|---|---|
| Director | Woody Allen |
| Genres | Comedy |
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Mighty Aphrodite
MIGHTY APHRODITE is Woody Allen's stab at Greek comedy/tragedy, and it is wildly successful. Allen 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 beautiful Max. Lenny soon becomes obsessed with finding out who Max's biological parents are, and 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 failing.
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. The scenes in which the two worlds meet--both in New York and in the Greek theater, are wonderfully witty and incisive. This charming light comedy from Woody Allen also features fine cameo appearances by Olympia Dukakis, David Ogden Stiers, Jack Warden, and Tony Sirico.
| Starring | F. Murray Abraham, Woody Allen, Claire Bloom, Helena Bonham-Carter, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Rapaport, Mira Sorvino, David Ogden Stiers, Jack Warden, Peter Weller |
|---|---|
| Director | Woody Allen |
| Studio | WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 31 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 15 Jun 2006 Production year: 1995 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (6)
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It's all Greek (myth) to Woody Allen, trying to touch Olympian heights but failing with this story of a sportswriter (Allen) who, with his wife (art-gallery owner Helena Bonham Carter), adopts a baby boy. When Allen decides to seek out the boy's birth mother, he finds she's a hooker (the wonderful, Oscar-winning Mira Sorvino) and becomes entangled in a web of convoluted plot twists that not even an occasional and rather boring Greek chorus can explain. It's too self-conscious and the never-ending radio-play dialogue needs gagging rather than more gags.
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"...A zippy, frothy confection....Dominated by a striking performance from Mira Sorvino....[She develops] a deeply sympathetic and appealing character..."
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Most helpful member's review
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5 out of 6 people found this review helpful
Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
I had a few laughs but it was not my cup of tea.
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Most recent members' review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Sublime Woody Allen
This is Woody Allen in full flow. As usual the plot revolves around his angst ridden character who once again manages to 'sandwich' himself between two amazingly attractive women but - and its a big but- the tenousness of the situations is lost in the seamless flow of dialogue and character build up. this movie made me grin a lot and laugh even more. Its a lovely film.
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News and features
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Whatever Happened to Woody Allen?
- 21 May 2008
He's made (at least!) a film a year since 1970, a record that's all the more remarkable when you realise that he's written and directed all of them, and starred in most. They include some of the best-loved and most quoted comedies in cinema history: Annie Hall, Manhattan and Hannah and Her Sisters take some beating, and that's to ignore "the early, funny ones" (Sleeper, Love and Death, Bananas); the lovely miniatures from what I consider his finest period (the early 80s gave us Broadway Danny... Read more
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MIGHTY APHRODITE is Woody Allen's stab at Greek comedy/tragedy, and it is wildly successful. Allen stars as Lenny Weinrib, a sportswriter married to ambitious Amanda Sloan (Helena Bonham Carter), who ... -