Lenny Weinrib (Woody Allen) is a NYC sportswriter. His curator wife Amanda (Helena Bonham Carter) pushes him to adopt. Over the years, their marriage hits a valley. Lenny finds little Max to be exceptionally brilliant and becomes obsessed with finding his biological mother. He finds that she is call girl and porn star Linda Ash (Mira Sorvino). While Amanda slowly drifts towards Jerry Bender (Peter Weller), Lenny tries to fix Linda's life and even sets her up with former boxer Kevin (Michael Rapaport). Throughout the movie, there is a Greek chorus which comments and interacts with the story.This is a fun little comedy highlighted by the high-nasal-voiced Sorvino. It's a brilliant hilarious character. She has never been funnier since. She is the embodiment of the hooker with a heart of gold. I'm not as enamored with the Greek chorus. They land a few jokes but they mostly take up space. This is generally fun and light which comes mostly from Sorvino.

What's wrong with a director who cast himself in nearly every film he made? Nothing if your name is or was Charles Chaplin, Clint Eastwood or Gene Kelly. But in case of Woody Allen there's definitely a problem. He always cast himself in a role of a character he wishes to be. In Mighty Aphrodite he plays a sport journalist married with a pretty wife (Helena Bonham Carter) who is a designer. For sure it's a frustration for Allen to be born in a body that is anything but athletic and it's clear that he imagined this character to compensate for his physical shortcomings. A role as a real sportsman would be totally unbelievable so let's make it a sport journalist! At one day Lenny (Allen) en Amanda (Bonham Carter) decides to adopt a baby, or in fact Amanda takes the decision. After a couple of years their marriage is in trouble and Lenny starts a search for the biological mother of the toddler. As a viewer you're not sure what the reason is. He suspects Amanda of cheating on him so maybe he is looking for revenge or to raise his son with the woman he's looking for. Or it is just his midlife crisis. After some research he finds out that the mother of his adopted son is a hooker and porn star by the name of Linda Ash who also lives in New York. He approaches her as a customer but instead of having sex with her he tries to talk her into a more decent life. Of course Linda is very wary about Lenny's approach after the experiences she has with men but he succeed to win her trust and actually gets her out of her job and into a hairdresser training. In fact he is so concerned about her welfare that he tries to find her a decent man. Then it all goes wrong: he thinks he's right about the cheating of his wife and the man he thinks is a very good husband for Linda finds out about her porn career.When both Lenny and Linda are at a low point in their lives they found comfort in each other and even end up in bed. But Lenny returns to Amanda who also decides that the lover who is after her isn't worth the end of her marriage.So not only gives Allen himself a role very close to something athletic he also give himself a marriage to the beautiful Bonham Carter and a good night with Mira Sorvino who plays Linda Ash. Not total unbelievable wasn't it for the fact that he portrays Lenny as a total neurotic and klutz. For a person who has a very social job and has a marriage which give him a lot of contacts in the art scene his clumsiness is far overdone. The scene where he first enters the apartment of Linda is so shamefully bad acted that it is painful to watch. Just like the scene where he tries to convince the pimp to keep his hands of Linda.Not to say that this is a bad movie. Allen good be quite funny here and he brings a brilliant idea to the script. An antic Greek choir which (with the assistance of some of the Greek gods) give comment on the story and the characters and on some occasions try to interrupt and talk Lenny out of his plans. This idea give the film a light tone against the neurotic acting by Allen and the heavy themes like abortion, prostitution and divorce. As a viewer you wonder when the real reason for Lenny's interest in Linda comes to the surface. That this didn't happen is a bit of disappointment because you're curious about the reaction of the two women in Lenny's life. But it also fits in the light mood of the film.So Allen puts a lot of good ideas in Mighty Aphrodite but it's a pity nobody convinces him to hire a good casting agency for the role of Lenny.

This is a modern fable, that is narrated and commented by a Greek chorus.Sportswriter Lenny Weinrib ends up adopting a boy, Max, with his wife Amanda.In a few years they start facing some problems in their marriage, and Lenny wants to know about Max' real mother.To his surprise she turns out to be a hooker/porn actress.He gets close to her as a client, but all he does is talk with her.At first, anyway.Mighty Aphrodite (1995) is a Woody Allen film, where he also plays the lead.And he does it with the Woody-like style.And, like in any Allen movie, the rest of the actors are A-list.Helena Bonham Carter is terrific as Amanda Sloan Weinrib.Mira Sorvino is pretty fantastic as Linda Ash.Michael Rapaport is great as her dumb date Kevin.Then there are superb people, like F. Murray Abraham as Greek Chorus Leader.Olympia Dukakis is Jocasta.David Ogden Stiers plays Laius.Jack Warden is the blind prophet, Tiresias.Danielle Ferland plays Cassandra.Peter Weller plays Jerry Bender.Donald Symington is Amanda's Father.Claire Bloom, who turned 80 earlier this year, is Amanda's Mother.Tony Sirico plays the part of Boxing Trainer.Paul Giamatti is seen as Extras Guild Researcher.This is quite amusing Woody Allen experience.It's quite hilarious when Linda uses that language known from her films with Lenny.And when Lenny talks with the Greek chorus people.For Woody Allen fans this movie gives what they expect from the man.And that is a comedy with some wit.

Sportswriter Lenny Weinrib (Allen) and his wife (Bonham-Carter) adopt a baby from an anonymous mother. After a few years pass, Lenny starts to wonder about the woman. Curiosity quickly gets the better of him, so he steals files from the adoption agency and sets out to find her. Lenny is dismayed, maybe even terrified, to find that Linda (Sorvino,) the mother, is a beautiful $200-an-hour prostitute. So that he can fashion the proper mother-son reunion and save himself from what fate seems to have in store, he determines to 'reform' Linda. Interwoven throughout the story is a Greek chorus (including F. Murray Abraham and Olympia Dukakis,) who add their own unique take on the proceedings.I've always preferred Woody Allen's comedies over his dramas. This one is probably one of my favorites. This film is a great example of Woody Allen showing no interest in convincing his audience into swallowing down some serious morals. It's light, fluffy, shamelessly sentimental and does not suffer a bit because of it. The plot is generally an uplifting tale of changing ones life for the better, and intertwined with this is some of Woody Allen's best humor. There are many entertaining characters, especially Mira Sorvino's prostitute and Michael Rapaport's dim-witted boxer, Kevin.The stand-out here is Mira Sorvino. She is absolutely enthralling, with her ditsy nature and confidence masking a timid vulnerability, all of which earned her a well deserved Oscar. Linda could have been an over the top, cartoonish character, Pygmalion on crack. But under the careful direction of Allen, Sorvino gives the best performance of her career so far, and one of the funniest performances ever.