Mighty Aphrodite


Starring: Woody Allen, Helena Bonham Carter, F. Murray Abraham, Olympia Dukakis, Mira Sorvino, Paul Giamatti, Michael Rappaport
Directed by: Woody Allen
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Romance
1995

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After a New York sports writer (Woody Allen) and his wife (Helena Bonham Carter) adopt a baby boy, he becomes obsessed with finding his birth-mother (Mira Sorvino). When he does, he discovers she is working as a prostitute, and he soon becomes involved in her life.

Review:

Tim:

As I've said many times before, I am not a particularly big fan of Woody Allen. I definitely respect his work as a writer and director, but I am not a fan of his acting- specifically because he seems to always cast himself in the lead role- and it always feels exactly the same. This is true in this film, which gave this movie the overall impression that we've already been here before. Yes, this film is quite different, but it also feels far to familiar. Mighty Aphrodite may be one of Allen's most critically acclaimed films, but I still felt like it was a bit of a mess.

Unfortunately, Allen does indeed cast himself in the lead role, a neurotic New Yorker dealing with a variety of semi-interesting issues. I am not sure if Allen is just playing to his strengths or if he's simply a lazy actor, but I felt like I'd seen this all before. His character is just too similar to the dozens of others he's written for himself.

Much of this movie I thought was a valiant attempt to be different, but it doesn't exactly work. For example, the Greek chorus line scenes are certainly unique, and do provide a number of funny moments. However, as a whole, I felt like they stopped the momentum of the movie. While they did contribute a few laughs, more often they not, they were a disruption that simply didn't work. I do appreciate Allen trying to be different, but it simply didn't work for me here.

In general, I really liked the attempt to tell a modern day Greek morality story. This is one of the film's greatest strengths. The parallels between this movie and the Greek myths we've all heard before is pretty impressive. Allen is indeed a talented storyteller, and he spins an interesting yarn here. I really liked the ideas of fate and free will, and how they clashed throughout this movie. I thought the ending was particularly strong, and revealed what an interesting, complex story Allen had created. This is one of the film's strengths. Woody Allen certainly deserved a nomination for Best Original Screenplay, but I'm glad he didn't win.

The cast, on the other hand, can't really be considered a strength. As I mentioned, Allen's performance is just too similar to all his other ones. I felt like I'd already seen this before, and so, I was bored with him from the first moments of the film to the ending credits. I didn't like his performance very much at all. Helena Bonham Carter was decent, but she didn't really add much to the film. I liked seeing F. Murray Abraham, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Rappaport, and even Paul Giamatti in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role. However, the best performance of the film undoubtedly belongs to Mira Sorvino. Sorvino has some great lines, and is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stodgy cast. She had great fun with the role, and did a very good job. I will admit I was a bit surprised she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. I thought she was very good, but I'm not sure if she was that good. Still, she certainly deserves some praise for her performance, which made this movie much, much better than it would have been without her.

Mighty Aphrodite is a movie that deserves some respect for telling a powerful story in an unconventional way. However, the movie as a whole gets dinged for the constant, overbearing presence of Woody Allen. I didn't hate this movie, but I certainly didn't love it, either. I think this is a decent effort that was overrated by critics. This movie has a lot of flaws, most of which are Allen's fault. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for him, I've learned to overlook his quirks and judge his movie based on their own merit. With this film, however, I simply can't overlook the flaws- I don't believe this is a very good movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Annie Hall, Match Point, Shadows and Fog, Bullets Over Broadway