I’m in the process of replacing my videos on DVD, so here’s the latest…
Mighty Aphrodite is an identity–based comedy from Woody Allen, where a man goes in search of his adopted son’s natural parents, and sets in motion an unexpected chain of events as a consequence.
Lenny (Allen) is a ... Read review
Released in 1995,Mighty Aphroditewas arguably Woody Allen's most successful film ... more
sinceHannah and Her Sistersalmost a decade earlier. The story follows Allen's neurotic New York sports writer Lenny, who becomes obsessed with tracking down his adopted so...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
New York sportswriter Lenny becomes increasingly obsessed with finding the birth mother of ... more
his exceptionally intelligent adopted son. When the two finally meet, however, Lenny is completely unprepared to learn that the outrageous Linda is nothing like ...
Released in 1995,Mighty Aphroditewas arguably Woody Allen's most successful film ... more
sinceHannah and Her Sistersalmost a decade earlier. The story follows Allen's neurotic New York sports writer Lenny, who becomes obsessed with tracking down his adopted so...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
New York sportswriter Lenny becomes increasingly obsessed with finding the birth mother of ... more
his exceptionally intelligent adopted son. When the two finally meet however Lenny is completely unprepared to learn that the outrageous Linda is nothing lik...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Released in 1995,Mighty Aphroditewas arguably Woody Allen's most successful film ... more
sinceHannah and Her Sistersalmost a decade earlier. The story follows Allen's neurotic New York sports writer Lenny, who becomes obsessed with tracking down his adopted son's birth mother, Linda. His odyssey is narrated and commented upon with coruscating wit by a Greek chorus led by F Murray Abraham. Despite their dire warnings at his rather ham-fisted attempts at hubris, there is nothing tragic in the ultimately uplifting tale. Lenny eventually locates Linda (an Oscar-winning performance from the enchanting Mira Sorvino) and discovers that she's caught up in just about every aspect of the sex trade. Without revealing his reasons, he sets about improving her life with hilarious results.Sorvino is a wonder as the tall, alluring and vulnerable Linda, who talks with candid innocence of her adventures in vice (she offers a blow job as if it was a pound of apples) and clearly deserves a better hand than she has been dealt. Helena Bonham Carter, not entirely convincing as a driven Manahattanite, plays Allen's ambitious art dealer wife whom Lenny ultimately realises is the love of his life. And a host of stars including Claire Bloom, Gwenn Verdon and Olympia Dukakis (Jocasta) contribute shining moments to this intelligent and touching comedy. When the chorus bursts into "When You're Smiling" at the end, it's like the sun coming out.On the DVD:The widescreen (1.85:1) presentation gives the location-shot chorus scenes marvellous resonance, although the Dolby Digital mono soundtrack is occasionally rather flat. Both picture and sound quality, however, preserve the intimacy which is the trademark of Allen's finest work. There are no extras beyond a choice of subtitles and the usual scene selection menu.--Piers Ford
Postage & Packaging:£2.69 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Released in 1995,Mighty Aphroditewas arguably Woody Allen's most successful film ... more
sinceHannah and Her Sistersalmost a decade earlier. The story follows Allen's neurotic New York sports writer Lenny, who becomes obsessed with tracking down his adopted son's birth mother, Linda. His odyssey is narrated and commented upon with coruscating wit by a Greek chorus led by F Murray Abraham. Despite their dire warnings at his rather ham-fisted attempts at hubris, there is nothing tragic in the ultimately uplifting tale. Lenny eventually locates Linda (an Oscar-winning performance from the enchanting Mira Sorvino) and discovers that she's caught up in just about every aspect of the sex trade. Without revealing his reasons, he sets about improving her life with hilarious results.Sorvino is a wonder as the tall, alluring and vulnerable Linda, who talks with candid innocence of her adventures in vice (she offers a blow job as if it was a pound of apples) and clearly deserves a better hand than she has been dealt. Helena Bonham Carter, not entirely convincing as a driven Manahattanite, plays Allen's ambitious art dealer wife whom Lenny ultimately realises is the love of his life. And a host of stars including Claire Bloom, Gwenn Verdon and Olympia Dukakis (Jocasta) contribute shining moments to this intelligent and touching comedy. When the chorus bursts into "When You're Smiling" at the end, it's like the sun coming out.On the DVD:The widescreen (1.85:1) presentation gives the location-shot chorus scenes marvellous resonance, although the Dolby Digital mono soundtrack is occasionally rather flat. Both picture and sound quality, however, preserve the intimacy which is the trademark of Allen's finest work. There are no extras beyond a choice of subtitles and the usual scene selection menu.--Piers Ford
Postage & Packaging:£1.21 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Comedy - Director: Gareth Carrivick - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Kathryn Drysdale, Sheridan Smith, Natalie Casey, Will Mellor, Ralf Little
Production Year: 2004 - Comedy - Director: John Hay - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jimi Mistry, Kate Miles, Dougray Scott
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Advantages: Very Funny, Mira Sorvino is Excellent Disadvantages: The whole Greek chorus thing
...the latest…
Mighty Aphrodite is an identity–based comedy from Woody Allen, where a man goes in search of his adopted son’s natural parents, and sets in motion an unexpected chain of events as a consequence.
Lenny (Allen) is a sports writer married to Amanda (Helena Bonham-Carter), and they decide to adopt a child. As the child grows, he shows signs of exceptional ability and intelligence, and this leads Lenny to embark ... ...so, he is only able to track the mother, who it turns out is a prostitute and adult film star, and the father is a mystery.
Linda, the natural mother, is played by Mira Sorvino, who puts in a powerhouse performance, something of a trademark for Allen’s leading ladies. Actually, she won an Oscar for best supporting actress as the damaged and dim Linda, who attempts to tough it through life with disarming honesty and naivety while covering ... more
I’m in the process of replacing my videos on DVD, so here’s the latest…
Mighty Aphrodite is an identity–based comedy from Woody Allen, where a man goes in search of his adopted son’s natural parents, and sets in motion an unexpected chain of events as a consequence.
Lenny (Allen) is a sports writer married to Amanda (Helena Bonham-Carter), and they decide to adopt a child. As the child grows, he shows signs of exceptional ability and intelligence, and this leads Lenny to embark on a search to track down his parents. Upon doing so, he is only able to track the mother, who it turns out is a prostitute and adult film star, and the father is a mystery.
Linda, the natural mother, is played by Mira Sorvino, who puts in a powerhouse performance, something of a trademark for Allen’s leading ladies. Actually, she won an Oscar for best supporting actress as the damaged and dim Linda, who attempts to tough it through life with disarming honesty and naivety while covering up her hidden heartbreak over giving away her child. The dialogue is great, her timing superb, and killer lines are delivered in a shrill, grating accent that puts your teeth on edge.
For what sounds a pretty stereotypical character, Linda actually has considerable depth, and goes a long way to explaining why the cream of Hollywood talent was queuing to appear in Allen movies at this time.
With many attempts at self-justification, Lenny attempts to interfere with Linda’s life and turn it around. As a sports writer, he comes into contact with a boxer (Michael Rapaport) and attempts to fix them up. He seems an intellectual match - ‘I’ve had 16 fights and I won all of them but 12’, and there seems to be some promise as long as her past stays secret. Lenny’s obsession with ‘saving’ Linda causes him to neglect his own marriage and ignore the developing personal relationship between his wife and her business partner (Peter Weller).
It’s all fairly familiar ground in terms of examining relationships, and the throwing in of some off-kilter personalities to clash with the central characters educated middle class sensibilities. The weird bit for me is the continual cutting to a Greek chorus in an amphitheatre as narrators; I read once that this is partly a reference to Pygmalion, who fell in love with a statue of Aphrodite which he carved himself. It’s clever, and serves to show Lenny analysing his developing relationship with Linda, plus there are some great one liners, but it adds a surreal edge to the film that puts me off a bit. Maybe I’m just not clever enough to get all the references, but it doesn’t quite work for me, although their advice to Lenny is frequently humorous.
It’s a 15 certificate, and given the nature of Linda’s work, there are some very explicit sexual jokes and dialogue, so this should be borne in mind if you’re sensitive to that kind of content. As is usual with Allen, there are no extras on the DVD, apart from the original trailer, and I got mine from Amazon for just under £5.
I’d recommend the film on the basis that it’s consistently funny, and there are some good performances, even if Helena Bonham-Carter is underused. But Mira Sorvino is fantastic.
Advantages: Excellent performance by Mira Sorvino Disadvantages: Not his best film
Woody Allen plays sports writer Lenny who, with his wife Amanda (played by Helena Bonham Carter), adopts a young boy, Max. Soon, Lenny gets a little curious about Max's breeding and he heads over to the adoption agency to try and find out who the parents were, certain they're a pair of geniuses. Instead, the mother turns out to be Linda Ash, a hooker/porn star (played by Mira Sorvino). Shocked at the discovery to begin with, Lenny gradually accepts ... ...all he can to help her improve her situation. While all this is going on, Lenny regularly consults with imaginary characters from Greek tragedies. In fact, a Greek chorus even narrate the story from an outdoor theatre. Overall, it's a very upbeat and highly entertaining film which has plenty of funny moments. ...
wyn 03.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Mighty Aphrodite (DVD)
A New York sports writer is obsessed with finding the natural mother of his highly-intelligent adopted son. However, when he finally meets her she's not at all how he imagined...
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINM; TECHNICOLOR DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
Release date
15/06/2006
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
BED 888431
Barcode
5017188884310
Languages
Main Language
English
Subtitle Language
English
Technical information
Special Features
Scene Access
Aspect Ratio
1.85 Wide Screen
Sound
Mono
Dubbing Sound
Mono English
Award information
OSCAR
Best Actress In A Supporting Role 1996 (Mira Sorvino)
Professional reviews
Review
"...Laugh-out-loud funny .When Mira Sorvino's Linda is on screen, MIGHTY APHRODITE is alive with daffy erotic glee..." -- Rating: B+ (Entertainment Weekly, pp.40-1, 03/11/1995)
"...A zippy, frothy confection....Dominated by a striking performance from Mira Sorvino....[She develops] a deeply sympathetic and appealing character..." (Variety, 04/09/1995)
DVD Description
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.
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