Mighty Aphrodite (1995)

Summary: Lenny Weinrib is a busy sports journalist. Amanda is his wife who is initiating an art gallery, but in the midst of their busy lives they decide to adopt a baby. Time passes and after a couple of years Lenny decides to find the boy’s mother, so has to delve, slightly, into the underworld, to find that she, Linda, is a prostitute and part time porn actress. Having met her, and not had sex with her, he tries to sort out her life, managing to arrange a date for her with  part time boxer. They are both pretending to be something other, but the plan is blown when he sees Linda in a porn film. Lenny also comes up against Linda’s pimp who objects to his interference, and is only bought off by Lenny’s ability to get tickets to some sports event. Meanwhile Amanda is getting close to Jerry, her partner in the development of her gallery. How will it end?

Content: The show starts with a Greek chorus, masked, reciting lines in an amphitheatre (Teatro antico in Sicily). The chorus reappears at various points in the plot, usually warning Lenny of impending doom. Sometimes the leader joins him in his real life. Lenny and Amanda are seen getting on, and not getting on. Lenny meets Linda, who is a statuesque, striking blonde with an irritating voice and who is extremely, but charmingly, dim.  Her apartment is full of sex related images, including cactii like erect penises, and more. As time passes he and she get closer.

A View: I really liked the Greek Chorus and their setting. I have a fondness for this Roman stuff. Woody Allen plays his filmic persona as usual and the whole thing rolls along. Mira Sorvino won best supporting actress at the Oscars for that year, and the choreography of the chorus also won an award. The whole thing is a lot of fun, so definitely a watch, but maybe not with your granny.

Woody Allen has been variously received by the critics, but here are three of his outings which I have enjoyed: A Hollywood Ending from 2002, The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) and Café Society from 2016.