Film Focus: Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite

'Film Focus: Exploring the Films that Stick With You' is a recurring feature in which I review a film I haven't seen in at least ten years from memory, without any sort of fact- or or reference-checking to refresh the ol' knot on the topic.

In Mighty Aphrodite, Woody Allen plays a sportswriter who tries to fix up a young, hunky baseball player with a whore. Or it's possible the baseball player is a boxer, not a baseball player. Some sporty, athelete-y occupation in any event. Probably not a baseball player - baseball players don't need help with that! So, I think, a boxer. The whore has a kid, I think - which I think ends up being a problem or a plot point, like maybe the baseball player is all like, "oh, she has a kid...?" All insensitive. I think there's something that happens to where he (the baseball player) is kind of a lunkhead, or insensitive, to the point where Woody the sportswriter has doubts as to whether this baseball player really deserves to be with this whore. Because she's pretty special. At one point I think somebody tries to play chess with her, but I might be confusing the issue with other things I myself did the afternoon I saw the film.

No wait, she definitely has a kid because I remember Woody tries to steal this kid for some reason! For reasons of his own, I guess. Because the kid turns out to be incredibly smart, and then - wait, I'm getting it backwards. Here's what happens, here's what definitely happens: Woody needs to get an infant for his wife, and so they go to adopt one, and it ends up being this kid. And he ends up being incredibly smart (as he grows up into a little boy - this part of the film takes years), and so Woody gets it into his head that he wants to find out who the mom is and meet her. And it's this whore!

Now she's a real dunce-ball, delightfully played by Mia Sorvino. Who I don't mind telling you, I loved her performance in this! And I thought she was a pretty incredible actress. She really nailed it, really made you believe in the performance. Did I hear something to the effect that she did all the wardrobe and costuming for the part herself? That's taking the method to another level.

So, as I recall they also do these "Greek Chorus" interstitial bits, like an old Greek tragedy where a literal greek chorus literally comes in from the sides and galumphs around, commenting on the action. Very literary. This was one weird touch of class, I tell you. Don't see that in a lot of movies! It ties into the presence of the Greek goddess "Aphrodite" in the title, which as I recall, doesn't tie into much of anything else in the film, but it's a nice touch!

I might be missing something. I don't think I'm missing anything major. That about covers it for this film!