Were Mira Sorvino's all-redeeming, possibly best- list-bound performance to melt away, it would immediately be obvious how malnourished this amiably minor effort is.

That Allen would venture into this subject matter seems fraught with risk. But Mighty Aphrodite quickly turns into safer waters and develops into a sunny comedy about tawdry people.

Full of wise-cracks and featuring a deliciously ironic denouement, Mighty Aphrodite is an amiable romantic farce which thumbs its nose at political correctness and smiles benignly at human foibles.

It's rare to see a film so wholeheartedly casual, silly, effervescent, and yet genuinely touching.