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Rating: 3.5 out of 5
When I think of Aphrodite, the first thing that should come to mind is the Greek Goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality but mostly love. Thank you, Hercules: The Legendary Journey, for giving me some education on the Greek gods. When I picked up a copy of Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite, I was expecting a deep romance film but seeing Woody Allen’s name on it, I don’t know what I was expecting. Annie Hall was about love, and it was a very entertaining film. I guess my expectations were unsure because I really don’t know too much about Allen’s work.
Written, directed by, and co-starring Woody Allen, the screenplay takes some inspiration from the story of Pygmalion. Lenny Weinrib (Allen), a sportswriter, and Amanda Sloan (Bonham Carte), an art gallery employee, are a married couple in the busy city of New York City. Wanting to start a family, the couple decides to adopt a baby and name him Max. After a few years and realizing that Max is a genius, Lenny starts to wonder about who his mother was. He thinks that she must be a genius and that the boy’s biological father was also a great person. Curiosity soon gets the best of him, and he steals the file from the adoption agency, intending to find Max’s biological mother. He wants to reunite mother and son, but mostly he is obsessed with Greek tragedy, which shows up significantly in this film when Lenny finally finds Max’s biological mother. To Lenny’s dismay, he finds Linda (Sorvino), who is GORGEOUS but also a prostitute and former porn actress. Not wanting Max to meet her as she is, he decides to reform Linda into a proper woman but will fail dramatically.
Let me tell you, Woody Allen has a way of making movies. Just like him, he has this nerdy take on life and how he tells different stories. His humor isn’t bad; it catches you off guard because it’s a different way of telling a story. Homeboy sounds and acts like a nerd, but he is pulling all the fine women in his films. With this one, Allen did a funny job of telling a tale with a mixture of a humorous Greek play. I think that is why the film is quite fun to watch. Occasionally, the film will go to an ancient Greek ruin where a Greek chorus tells what is happening. Some of the best scenes in the movie were with the Greek chorus. One of the scenes I found hilarious was when the chorus asked for Zeus, and they got his answering machine.
The actual story is pretty good but also meh. It was made as a Greek tragedy, but the overall premise was meh, with Lenny looking for Max’s mother. It felt like Lenny was making unwanted problems for himself rather than focusing on his own life. First, stealing the film is wrong, and then when he meets Linda, he disapproves of her job and the life she has. Yes, Linda wants to get out, and he helps her, but rather than saying all the things she’s not, he should’ve just accepted her as she was and moved on. Lenny thought he was some freaking knight in shining armor and, in the end, was just a scumbag because his own wife was hooking up with someone else.
I will make this easier; it would be far more interesting if the film was more of the Greek chorus. They were honestly some of the funniest and best parts of the whole movie. I like their mixture of ancient Greece with modern words. Their jokes were spot on, and their musical numbers were entertaining. I think that is why this film was far more entertaining than what it was. They added much-needed humor and comic relief to the film.
Let’s take a moment to talk about Linda. She was a prostitute but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and pay them bills. When she went on a date and started liking Kevin, he flipped out because she did porn back in the day. Rather than focusing on that, they should’ve focused on what she really wanted to do. Help homegirl with her acting and to be a bigger person in the world. You can’t change the past, so might as well work and help for the future. Plus, don’t hate on them sex workers, people dream about being with them.
As far as the acting goes, Woody Allen was okay. After watching more and more of his films, I feel like he plays the same exact role. It is something about him where he is a nerd that gets all the beautiful women and complains constantly. I felt like he played the same role from Annie Hall and even Ants. Seems to be zero versatility.
The beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful, and talented Mira Sorvino as Linda Ash was fantastic. She was and probably is this movie is entertaining. The film was meh until she came on. I love her character because she almost had zero filter when talking about sex or anything like that. The dinner scene was hilarious. Sorvino needs to be majorly applauded for this role because she is excellent, and I’m glad she won the award for this role.
Mighty Aphrodite is one of those Woody Allen films that feels the same as some others. Maybe this was a great film back in the day, but now, it is simply meh. The concept of styling it around a Greek tragedy is interesting and adds some much-needed flavor to this film. The Greek chorus is also some of the best in this film. Mira Sorvino is straight-up gorgeous and outstanding in this film. She carries this film and carries herself to an Academy Award. Watch it strictly for her performance.
