Rent Mighty Aphrodite (1995)

Greek comedy. - Mighty Aphrodite review by Steve

Woody Allen stars as a sportswriter who adopts a boy with his wife (Helena Bonham Carter) and is so captivated by him that he decides to track down the real parents. He discovers that the mother is a hardcore porn star/sex worker (Mira Sorvino) who was impregnated by an unknown client.

The reporter seeks to turn her life around on the assumption that one day his boy will want to meet his mum, but also because of a developing paternal interest in her problems. Woody adds some bulk to this slender premise by attaching a Greek chorus to comment on the action and assist plot development.

 But all of this is swallowed whole by Sorvino's superb comic performance, which deservedly won an Oscar. She is wonderful at releasing the comedy from her rather marginal understanding of the world she lives in (and she looks incredible). And she squeezes some understated poignancy out of her character.

Woody's Oscar nominated screenplay is quite sexually explicit in comparison with his earlier films. It's a funny, wistful comedy which probably draws from his own experiences. And if critics switched off because he has made so many of these, that doesn't make this one any less enjoyable.