Mighty Aphrodite

I was actually disappointed by Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite, because I felt there was far too little meat on the story. Besides, it can be tiresome watching Allen play the same role film after film.

In Mighty Aphrodite Allen plays the writer Lenny, who is married to the art dealer Amanda. The marriage is ailing, so to remedy the situation Amanda pushes through the adoption of a little boy, Max. Max is so intelligent that Lenny assumes his biological parents must be too. Out of sheer curiosity Lenny tracks down Max's real mother, who turns out to be everything Lenny did not expect. Max's mother, Linda Ash, is a voluptuous photo and porn model who does not have much between the ears, but who nevertheless has a heart of gold.

Lenny and Linda become best friends, without Lenny ever telling Linda the truth about her son. Cupid is in the air, but Lenny is faithful to his Amanda, who for her part finds it hard to resist her colleague and persistent suitor Jerry. The story has some improbable plot twists, which Allen explains and explains away in the scenes with the Greek chorus commenting on the action. The ending has an ironic little twist, but not enough to make me enthusiastic about the film as a whole.