Mighty Aphrodite

Woody Allen gives us an unconventional friendship with a Greek tragedy (Or comedy) as its backdrop. Story is about a sports writer named Lenny (Allen) who is married to Amanda (Helena Bonham Carter) and she works in an art gallery but their marriage is on the rocks so Amanda suggests they adopt a baby but Lenny at first says no. After they adopt a boy they name Max it takes no time for Lenny to change his mind. As Max grows Lenny is very curious about who left him for adoption and he starts snooping around until he tracks down Max's real mother. Turns out his real mother is Linda Ash (Mira Sorvino) who is a hooker and sometimes porno actress and Lenny sets up dates with her (No sex) and gets to know her better. He doesn't tell her that he has adopted her son and a friendship develops between the two. Meanwhile, Amanda is having an affair with Jerry (Peter Weller) and she moves out. Lenny tries to help Linda improve her life and sets up a date between her and a local boxer named Kevin (Michael Rapaport). During the course of this film Lenny talks to members of a Greek chorus who chant out what he should and should not do and sometimes they break into song! Three of the Greek chorus members are F. Murray Abraham, David Ogden Stiers and Olympia Dukakis. This is one of Allens funniest films in years and Sorvino steals the picture. I could listen to her talk that dialogue all day long. One of the many lines that stand out is when on a date with Rapaport she tells him she dated a pinball champion, but two guys strangled him! Sorvino appears on the surface to be just another kooky hooker but as the film develops we start to really care for her character and Sorvino adds just the right amount of charm and realism without forgetting the comedic elements of her role. One of the reasons the friendship between her and Allen works so well is because Sorvino displays her own sharp and quick wit to their spirited conversations. Allen has never used four letter words in his films but he does here and it seems appropriate with Linda's background and the violent pimp that Lenny goes to visit. The cinematographer is the great Carlo DiPalma and he's shot several of Allens films as well as "Blowup". The colors are interesting in several shots and the color yellow is very prominent. The focus of the story is about Allens character tempting fate by intruding in on Linda's life and trying to change it. This is clearly one of Allens best films and Sorvino is just terrific in a career making performance.