 |
Lenny Weinrib: Woody Allen Amanda: Helena Bonham Carter Linda Ash: Mira Sorvino Kevin: Michael Rapaport Greek Chorus Leader: F. Murray Abraham Jocasta: Olympia Dukakis Written and Directed by Woody Allen. Running time: 95 minutes. Rated R (for language and sex-related material). |
In the beginning of Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite, we find ourselves in Greece staring at an ancient amphitheater. We then cue a Greek chorus that appears on the screen and parades to the stage. They begin to inform us of dire warnings about those who would tempt fate, citing such examples like Achilles for Menelaus or Opedius. One of the more modern tales is Lenny, in which the chorus responds "A tale as Greek and timeless as fate itself."
In this modern-Greek-tragedy-comedy, Allen plays a New York sportswriter named Lenny Weinrib. Lenny is married to Amanda (Helena Bonham Carter), a gallery owner, who wants to adopt a child and springs the question to him quite unexpectedly. Lenny is adamantly opposed to the idea of adoption. When she asks why, "The same reason we don't lease a car okay? Cause it's pride of ownership," Lenny replies. Lenny's pleas go unnoticed, as we find out that Amanda adopts a baby in the next scene.
The arrival of the new baby, turns into a wonderful scene as they try to name him. They finally decide on the name Max after a long list of rejected names like Grocho and Eric ("Eric? The kid is not a Viking?"). Max grows up smart, attractive, and has a great sense of humor. In a scene where Lenny is teaching Max to shoot baskets, Lenny asks him what he wants to be when he grows up. "I don't know. Maybe an interior decorator," he says. "What?" replies a stunned Lenny. "Just kidding," as Max smugly continues to shoot baskets.
As Max turns out to be a perfect kid, Lenny becomes convinced that the boy's birth parents must be brilliant. As his marriage collapses and his wife embarks on an unhappy affair, Lenny begins an obsessive and exhausting search to track down Max's origins. Imagine his surprise when his search discovers that the boy's mother is a hooker and a porno star with a whole slew of alias, one of them being her current name, Linda Ash. Linda is played by Mira Sorvino, who plays the role superbly and quite convincingly.
Lenny picks up the phone and makes an appointment with Max's birth mother. When the door opens, Lenny finds a towering attractive blond with a high-pitched voice reminiscent of Miss Piggy (I mean that in a good way) standing in front of him. She leads him into an apartment that has been decorated out of a sex novelty shop, including a clock of horny pigs and a fish tank that has an interesting way of pumping in water.
While Lenny is trying to get as much information from Linda, Linda, assuming that he is a customer, is trying to offer him the services he has paid for. The scene becomes all to familiar, as it is an Allen trademark: a faint and nervous Allen trying to get out of a situation he put himself into.
Eventually Lenny becomes Linda's friend and counselor. Although, Lenny doesn't seem to really care for her initially, as his goal is to make her respectable. After all, Max can't find out what his mother use to do for a living. His motives are selfish, but soon change as he eventually falls for her. We can see how Lenny has fallen into the trap since his marriage is not as firm as the relationship he has with Linda.
Amanda herself has also gone through a whirlwind of her own. With the opening of her new gallery, she has changed to a different person. Amanda has become distant and confused, as she has no time to spend with Lenny or Max. She seems to find comfort with her old boss, Jerry Bender (Peter Weller). The two start to have an affair when Lenny begins to spend his time counseling Linda. It is interesting as the film goes on we see Amanda slowly being cut out of the picture as Lenny spends more and more time with Linda.
Lenny having straighten out Linda's career, decides to play match-maker. He suggests a young boxer he knows named Kevin (Michael Rapaport). Kevin wants to quit boxing and move to upstate NY to become a onion farmer. He is a good kid, but not the brightest person in the world, as he has taken to many blows to the head, implies his trainer. When Lenny tells him Linda starred in Shindler's List, he replies: "Yeah, that was the one about the Jews, and . . . uh, who were the bad guys again?" Kevin begins to describe what he is looking for a girl and we are not surprised that the description is the opposite of Linda. Kevin is looking for a down to earth kind of girl, who hasn't been with many partners. And also a girl who wants to settle down and help him with his onion farm. Of course from that description, Lenny immediately thinks of Linda.
What is curious is that when Lenny finds out that Kevin is not right for Linda, he continues to match them together. He will even resort to lying to have the two hit it off together. Obviously the relationship can't possibly work as the two are opposites, but you never know. But let me pose a question here: Is this Lenny's subconscious way of wanting Linda's relationship with men to decease and be with him instead?
The Greek chorus is a great invention in Allen's repertoire. The chorus interacts with Allen throughout the movie, while they make observations about the choices that he is making, as they are "speculating on possible motives." The chorus members not only are hilarious, but speed the movie up by informing us what is happening in-between the scenes. The chorus members include F. Murray Abraham, Olympia Dukakis and my favorite Danielle Ferland who plays Cassandra. Cassandra is the soothsayer who points out all the negative problems that will develop. Naturally Lenny isn't pleased when he hears from her. "I see catastrophe," Cassandra forecasts. "Worse--I see lawyers." The interaction between Lenny and the members are the best moments in the film. As the film goes on, you believe that Lenny's conscious can be formed by a group of Greek chorus members.
The tragedy, if you want to think of it as one, takes place in the most unlikely place in the world, FAO Schwartz. Through circumstances that I will not reveal, Allen takes us a few years later, when Lenny and Linda meet again. We see that both of them have an interesting secret that the other isn't aware of. The movie's closing scene is sweetly ironic and fits the whole style of the movie. Mighty Aphrodite is a good movie, where Allen wields tragedy into comedy so effortlessly that we wish we could do it in our own lives. Grade: B+
MAIN MENU
MOVIES A-F
MOVIES G-M
MOVIES N-T
MOVIES U-Z