Mighty Aphrodite (DVD)

Mighty Aphrodite is a 1995 comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen. In the film Allen plays Lenny Weinrib, a sports writer married to ambitious art dealer Amanda (Helen Bonham-Carter). After mulling it over - "I don't want to adopt. Not with my genes. I have award winning genes" - Lenny and Amanda adopt baby Max together and several years later Lenny becomes very curious about the real biological mother of their remarkably smart son. He decides to track her down to see where these apparently excellent genes originated from but - after some detective work - is somewhat surprised to find that Max's real mother is not very bright spandex wrapped prostitute ...  Read the complete review

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. ...  Read the complete review

Mira Sorvino's accent will crack you up, she plays her part beautifully and brings life and comedy to a character which is usually interpreted in a prejudiced way. A pretty irregular tale, yet so funny and touching, but not in the typical schmaltzy, Hollywood way because of the unusual subject. A couple adopt a baby, cracks appear in the marriage and husband Lenny goes in search of the mother of the child, who turns out to be prostitute and 'actress', Judy Cum, played by Mira Sorvino. He arrives at her house under the pretense of being a customer, he manages to escape seduction by saying he only wants companionship. They become good friends, and ...  Read the complete review

I studied Plato last year, as part of an English degree. We incorporated quite a few philosophers, in fact. Aristotle likes to come back and haunt us from time to time, and there's always room for a little Descartes. Sophocles slips in for a cup of coffee when the mood is right, and Nietzsche likes to pop up from behind and scare us when we least expect it. They have all done their bit in making the world look a little less foggy. Having said that, none of them have been able to say things more clearly and more precise than Woody Allen. I was just climbing over the wall into my teens when I first read 'Getting Even', Woody's funniest ...  Read the complete review