Spread (2009) User Reviews

Not a comedy?

[Hardryv · 5/10 · 15 January 2011]

I was surprised to find so many descriptions for this movie describing it or tagging it as a comedy... by my reckoning it's more of a light drama expressing the costs of inconsiderate over-indulgence. The players and performers all did their job as one would hope in any movie, but emptiness in the script and storyline left me wishing I'd spent my time more productively. I can't speak to any sense of realism in it, but perhaps there are worldly examples I'm simply unaware of. I did enjoy a few aspects of it, but there's little in the way of empathy that one can generate for the characters within as they're all between 'hollow & insensitive' and 'dishonest & abusive'.

My suspicion is that it will have greater appeal for younger audiences, mainly because some of the scenes portray rampant levels of decadence that they'll be more likely to appreciate than those of us in our 40s.

Boy Toy.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 24 March 2011]

I suppose Anton Kutcher must be handsome. He's tall and dark and every woman who approaches him seems to melt into some kind of amorphous plastic object that wobbles towards the nearest bed and begs him for commands.

He doesn't do a thing for me but his appearance, his pheromones, and the size of his apparatus seem to suit him well in La La Land. He puts everything he has into selling his looks and stamina to a rich lady like Anne Heche, who puts him up in her spacious modern flat overlooking the City of Angels. They sip expensive wine and nibble bonbons when they're not schtupping each other. Well, they have to do SOMETHING because the Kutcher character has the wit and sensitivity of a cucumber. He's recklessly selfish. His insights run along lines like these: "When a girl tells you you're not going to get anything, that's when you know you're going to get something." Heche returns home unexpectedly and finds him being serviced by a young blond wearing only a golden helmet while he watches Monday Night Football. I guess I ought to make it clear that although this is sometimes labeled a comedy, it's not. Heche tosses out all the fashionable clothes she's bought him, and then throws him out too.

This puts Kutcher on the street and he must hock a few of his more outrageous items from Prada in order to get along, while mooching off a male friend.

Then he runs into Margarita Levieva, a dark-eyed pretty thing who waits tables. She ignores his advances at first but he insinuates himself into her apartment, when he begins to put his usual moves on her. She insists he sleep on the couch so he doesn't get the wrong idea, but the light is no sooner out in her bedroom than he's creeping towards her in his skivvies complaining that the couch is too short, he's just going to slip in bed next to her, they're both adults, they can keep their hands off each other, and the baloney keeps grinding out, as in a factory. She agrees reluctantly. And I'm thinking, if she falls for this line, she's at least as stupid as he is. "I can feel you're smiling but I can't see it," he murmurs to her naked back. She rolls on her side and smiles openly at him. She's as stupid as he is.

Another conquest for Kutcher, whom I am, by this point, beginning not just to dislike but to hate with the kind of rubescent glow that only a hatred born of envy can generate.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Margarita turns out to have a rich fiancé back in New York. (He owns the Rangers.) She's not only as stupid as Kutcher but just as avaricious. But, now that the two poor people are in love, she flies back to New York to settle things with the wealthy fiancé who has been supporting her in Los Angeles. Kutcher finds he has trouble reaching her on the phone.

At this point, the story could have gone in one of two ways. (1) After several scenes of increasing tension, just when Kutcher is about to give up all hope, Margarita shows up, with an anxious smile, at his doorstep and they fall into each others' arms while a folk song about love swells up softly in the background. At that point, I would have walked out and sold my golden body to the nearest female bidder. OR (2) Margarita decides to stay in New York with Mister Right and Kutcher winds up sadder but wiser with a pedestrian job in Los Angeles.

The resolution lay behind Door Number Two, thank God. Yet, I still found it unsatisfactory in a way. Of course I was happy that Kutcher was able to reach Maslow's stage of self actualization. (He delivers groceries.) But real life in my experience doesn't work that way.

It's improbable that a man in his mid or late 20s who has been a shallow, self-interested sex fiend for all of his adult life is going to turn his entire character around because he's found someone as unprincipled as he is, and she's shown him what that looks like from the outside. He has a final exchange with Heche when he drops her groceries off. She asks how he's been. He smiles and says he's doing alright -- and he seems to MEAN it. It's a happy ending that sits on the film like a clown's cap on a performing seal. And as he drives his delivery truck away, there is a sappy love song on the sound track.

Kutcher's character is a dull man with no particular talent, intelligence, or sensibilities. He isn't evil. He's not even bad. He's simply empty except for his narcissism. He ought to be out there on the boardwalk in Venice, listening to rock on his Walkman, while doing capricious figures on roller skates. The best performances (and the best lines) are given to women, especially Anne Heche, who tells him in no uncertain terms where he stands on the life course. This movie could have been written by Tennessee Williams' ghost.

the other side of L.A. glamor

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 12 January 2011]

I thought this movie to be a comedy, as it was labeled such, so I was sort of waiting for a movie to make me laugh. The movie "Spread", however, is not really a comedy, more like a drama. But it wasn't a bad movie at all.

The story was nice, and it was a story that you easily could get yourself into and follow it. The story was going forward at a brisk pace and you wanted to see where the story would take you. I like the aspects of human behavior and how we treat other people and how it was portrayed in the movie. The director managed to hit that one straight on the head.

The cast in the movie was good. Ashton Kutcher did a good work as the lead role of Nikki. He has that boyish charm to him, and that worked well in this particular movie. But, the one carrying the movie would be Anne Heche in the role of Samantha. She did a phenomenal job in that role. I am not usually a big fan of her, but in this movie she was brilliant. And the chemistry between her and Nikki was really well acted out in a believable and good manner. And Margarita Levieva, playing Heather, was also quite good, and this is the first time I have seen any of her work.

Now, what didn't really go well with me was all the sex scenes. Well, I know it was important for the movie, but I just found it a bit too much. There was too much focus on those scenes, and I found it a tad over the top. But hey, I wonder if the movie would have been the same had they left them out. So just a little heads up for those haven't' seen the movie yet, there is a lot of adult situations in the movie.

The movie did get around a couple of interesting questions along the way. And a movie that leaves stuff for afterthought is one of the better kind of movies, entertainment and debatable at the same time. However, for me, this movie is not the type of movie that has enough value for a second viewing. It is watched once, then bagged and tagged.

"I was actually surprised with this movie"

[flashtanto · 7/10 · 22 October 2009]

I was hesitant at first to watch this movie. First it was the name, spread. I assumed it was going to be about fashion models and magazines or something lame like that. Second Ashton Kutcher is in it, not a selling point for me. But I was actually surprised with this movie. Ashton isn't his normal character in this film. To me it seems like he is going for a Hayden Christensen sorta thing. Most of the other characters in this film are bleak to say the most. They just kinda come and go with out any attachment, well from the viewers perspective at least. Anne Heche is super hot in this movie. I could never really feel for her though in this movie. I guess it was just the way she reacted to the situations at hand. I did love the pothead roommate though! It was hilarious hearing her cough in the distance. And the fact that she never came out of her room, I can relate with that. Well I liked this movie and it actually got better throughout the movie. Check it out if you have an hour and a half to kill.

Very satisfying and well acted; I enjoyed it

[Dragoneyed363 · 7/10 · 26 April 2010]

While Spread certainly wasn't a popular film when it was released, it didn't fly by my eye and it caught my attention for some reason, and I had been wanting to see it for awhile. When I got to view it, I was actually pretty satisfied with what I saw. The movie itself is quite well done and though it's apathetic and dull around the edges, the main story is strong and effective. The acting from both Ashton Kutcher and Anne Heche is great and believable, in my opinion, and though all the characters certainly weren't breathtakingly astonishing, they were actually well done enough to where I enjoyed them and I thought they were interesting and likable.

The real redeeming qualities this film has are an interesting plot, and Anne Heche & Ashton Kutcher. While the plot, as I've said, is a little tiresome, it never fails at being interesting and appealing. It pulled me in from the beginning because I got into Ashton Kutcher's character and I thought it kicked off to a very interesting start. Ashton Kutcher's character Nikki while being a bit tedious at times, as were most characters, was never really badly done and his and Anne Heche's character Samantha's chemistry together was amazing and their story is likable, and her character was probably my favorite because of the actress's portrayal, which leads me to another great aspect of this film; The performances.

Anne Heche was amazing as Samantha, and I really just found her performance genuinely likable and impressively delightful. Ashton Kutcher also did a pretty good job with Nikki and Margarita Levieva did alright with Heather, too, but the performances by and especially the chemistry between Heche and Kutcher was what I really enjoyed and for that I thought the first half of the film was stronger than the second half, which became kind of rushed and, how shall I say, dry, but still effective.

Nonetheless, this movie in my opinion is entertaining, interesting, well acted and it has a very poignant script. While it's certainly no masterpiece, and could've been done better in ways, it was still very satisfying and I enjoyed it. Not the best of 2009, and not one of the most popular, but it is a secret pleasure that I hope to get more people aware of.

a heavy handed and patently nasty ode to 21st century values of greed and excess

[gregking4 · 3/10 · 27 August 2009]

An American Gigolo for the 21st century, although without the '80's morality and sense of excess. Spread is a heavy handed and patently nasty ode to 21st century values of greed and excess. Demi Moore's toy boy Ashton Kutcher is perfectly cast here as Nikki, a handsome, vacuous, arrogant but impoverished stud who seduces wealthy, lonely older women and sponges off them while giving them an enjoyable sexual experience. He is currently sharing the lavish Hollywood Hills mansion of 40ish lawyer Samantha (Anne Heche). But while she is away on business he beds a number of younger more insatiable girls. But he remains emotionally detached, and never lets anyone get too close to him. That changes when he meets Heather (Margarita Levieva), a waitress who works in a coffee shop. But Heather is the female equivalent, coasting through life and living off the largesse of wealthy older men. But Heather is even more complicated than that. When Nikki falls hard for her it is a relationship that will change his life. Spread is an undeniably handsome-looking production, but it is rather vapid and empty. We've been through that younger man/older woman vibe too many times in the past (Shampoo, Sunset Boulevard, etc) to be seduced by the rather lacklustre version of the story served up here. Working with director David MacKenzie (Young Adam, etc), first time screenwriter Jason Hill serves up a morality tale in which the narcissistic young stud eventually gets his comeuppance. Kutcher may get by on his pretty boy looks but his performance is flat and he brings little depth to a character who is pretty shallow to begin with. There are oodles of flesh on display here, but the coldly staged sex scenes fail to generate much heat.

better than a poke in the eye....

[ptb-8 · 6/10 · 11 July 2010]

For 75 years we have seen talkies about young handsome and pretty hopefuls who come to Hollywood and lick their way to the top of something only to find they shoulda stayed home. This film isn't a talkie so much as a screwy. From DAY OF THE LOCUST and A STAR IS BORN and others, notably American GIGOLO we cinema-goers have sought the sight of these pretty prostitutes doing their thing..... and this time we have Ashton Kutcher (and Anne Heche) fully nude for your viewing pleasure. Exactly how much of a pleasure is doubtful, but this film SPREAD which he co produced is mostly all for and about him. Other viewers might be hard on this film (unlike Ashton, I am sure) and the material is familiar, but the production values and his unflinching willingness to get his gear off a lot is clearly to refresh the tired storyline and the awful personalities of the parasitic behavior on screen. Kutcher is quite good as the toy boy involved, and Heche is the hot momma host and their interaction (so to speak) works. There is a lot of nude on screen sex in this film all photographed lushly in semi tropic patio heaven. It's fun and trashy and well made and you get to see bits of everyone not normally in the sunlight. SPREAD, like Kutcher is nice to look at and quite familiar but ultimately empty. There is a better version yet to be made of this idea that these 20 something nightclub people who are good looking realise they are just delivery staff. As they say, be nice to those who you meet on the way up....

Still Waiting To See If I Got Punk'd...

[virtuall_boy · 1/10 · 14 August 2009]

I must have missed the boat somewhere.

In its opening moments, 'Spread' bills Ashton Kutcher as an object of uncontrollable lust - he quickly and effortlessly beds the affluent character portrayed by Anne Heche and then proceeds to make her his sugarmamma; in voice-over Kutcher play-by-plays the finer points of his pick-up artistry while screwing a bevy of other Los Angeles babes (many of whom he is able to bang without fear of any reprisal, inexplicably, from Heche, who is confusingly low on self esteem - more about that in a minute). I got lost quickly in terms of comprehending how or why Kutcher, who prances around throughout the film looking like a campy homosexual in suspenders and little earrings, is understood to be such a smouldering sex symbol, and moreover, that I am just going to buy into this conceit with a straight face. I doubt I was supposed to laugh out loud during several awkwardly explicit sex scenes that proudly advertise Kutcher's O-face, but I did anyway.

The victims of this bizarre Kutcher adonis appropriation are the women he encounters. All of the girls he seduces during the first half of the film, especially Heche, come off as pathetic, thoughtless tramps - if we can't buy what the flick is selling about Ashton, what does that say about the girls he nails? The first time Heche catches him 'cheating' on her, we expect the crappola to hit the fan; instead, she gets aroused and has sex with him. Seriously? Their relationship is played off at points as some kind of torrid affair, but during a scene where Heche tosses designer clothes at Kutcher and he looks on with what is (assumedly) supposed to be darkness and angst, we are pressed to wonder how many takes it took for him to do it without cracking up.

Nevermind the derivative, unimaginative story and the all-too-predictable comeuppance moralizing that happens in the second half. And I would be grateful if anyone can answer me about just what in the hell is going on with any or all of the following: a sequence where Heche has Kutcher mysteriously drive her to the hospital for an overnight stay, later revealed to have been for vaginal reconstructive surgery; an encounter Kutcher has with a former lay in a grocery store, midday, only to find out the girl is tanked and needs to pull over on the drive home to throw up; and, once again, Kutcher's wardrobe, especially one scene where his suspenders and a black-and-white striped shirt make him look like a street mime - is this 'style' considered trendy and hip in LA these days? (And if so, god help us.) When Ashton finally hits bottom and resorts to selling off his Gucci clothes at a pawnshop only to throw a hissy fit outside on the street - not sure how I was supposed to react to this (I laughed) - it really gets driven home that we are watching Kelso from That 70's Show try to 'act'... and it doesn't work.

Is all of this supposed to be taken ironically or seen as some kind of contemporary social commentary? If so, I had trouble reading it that way, and I think most of the credit for that is due to the headliner. Maybe if Ashton Kutcher himself was in any way relevant over the last few years beyond Demi Moore/douchebag jokes, coming into this film an audience might more properly be able to frame the experience. Sadly, the end result is all too tragically similar to the degrading way the girls in the film come off: utterly pathetic.

Better than expected

[cbuusse · 6/10 · 3 October 2021]

Not much of a Kutcher fan here, so obviously my expectations for this movie were quite low to begin with. I have to admit I was a little surprised to find that I actually enjoyed the plot and that it's apparently more than just nudity, once you get underneath that layer. Ironically one of those movies that make you rethink parts of your own life, and what really matters. I am a sucker for happy, sappy endings, but in its own way I think this ended perfectly.

Not worth the time.

[dlee-1037 · 2/10 · 31 August 2010]

Nothing new here. A story that happens ever day to people that you won't particularly care about.

The first half is slow moving soft porn and the second half is devoted to watching shallow people live shallow lives. People doing the same thing over and over again and yet somehow expecting different results.

If you can get past that everything else was adequate.I just don't see why they would assemble all those people and all that talent to tell us a story about people that were neither bad enough nor good enough for anybody to even take notice of.

Rent something else.

Sexy, subversive and very surprising...

[appleknight · 8/10 · 28 June 2009]

Spread is an unusual little film. I say 'little', as it's essentially a low budget character-driven drama that is some how being commercially packaged as a rom-com. A quick glance at the credits reveals that this isn't your average Kutcher vehicle: it's directed by Scotland's David Mackenzie of "Young Adam" and "Hallam Foe" fame.

Make no mistake, the Kutcher we see at the start of the film is very familiar: arrogant, uptight and utterly beautiful. But as the run-time flies past, we somehow warm to his character even though he's getting more sex than most of us will get in a lifetime. And here's the good news: Kutcher's performance is fairly astounding. He manages to reveal the humanity in his deeply flawed character with notable subtlety and a distinct lack of cliché. Kutcher's (many) sexual relationships portrayed in the film are brutally realistic: the modern and perhaps unromantic realities of casual sex are not dressed-up in any cheap Hollywood moralising. This is also evident in the overall tone of the film: there are many moments that could have descended into schmaltz, but a sharp edge it maintained on just about every line of dialogue.

Kutcher fans: beware. This is a real departure for the actor, but thank goodness: it's a movie with all the superficial gloss of Hollywood and all the invention of an indie flick.

I Smell Flopsweat!

[OutsideHollywoodLand · 28 September 2011]

Sometimes Hollywood stars need to know their place on the walk of fame. A few stars - like Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis, seem to make the transition from the small screen to the large blockbusters in one effortless bounce. It's almost as if their personas are too big to be contained in a TV sitcom, and need the silver screen to blossom and grow. Others - like Ashton Kutcher - should be happily entertaining us on the small screen, where we can appreciate his quirky - yet limited - talents.

"Spread" proves that Ashton's skills just get lost once he wandered away from a TV sound stage. This movie is driven neither by tightly constructed plot or nor believable character development. And so sadly, we're reminded again that marginal B-list stars like Ashton Kutcher have to make a living, too.

Starring Ashton Kutcher and Anne Heche, this movie vainly attempts to tell the story of a small-time west coast hustler, who imagines himself more successful than he actually is, in the harsh reality light bulb that is LA. Kutcher plays Nikki, who introduces himself with this voice over narration during a three + minute long take. (What male uses the female spelling for his first name?) "My whole life it was obvious I was going to end up in this city. I don't want to be arrogant here, but I'm an incredibly attractive man. I can't help it, I don't try to be, I just am. When I was a kid my mother's best friend used to tell me that I was gonna be a little heart breaker. Turns out she was right. Her husband came home from work one day and found us f*#kin' on the Stairmaster. Los Angeles, California - that's where all the beautiful little heart breakers go to live the dream. 30,000 of them arrive here every single month. 30,000 prom kings and queens, and Little Miss Cute Tits every one of them with stars in their eyes and a dream in their heart. When I first came out here, I had a dream - a dream of an easy life. I was gonna get rich from lyin' around having my picture taken. I was gonna live in the hills and drive a noisy yellow sports car and f*ck 6' girls who weighed 89 lbs. Guess what? Most of it came true." Is it surprising that it's all downhill from here? Kutcher is unconvincing as the LA hustler of wealthy women, since he obviously doesn't have anything to show for it. He picks up a woman, plays lounge lizard for a while, and then gets kicked out or – get this - he leaves! What successful hustler is going to walk out on makeup sex - at night - with only a third grade knapsack to show for it? Nikki spends 70% of his time playing couch potato at Samantha's (Anne Heche) upscale LA home and another 10% of the time playing Kama Sutra around her palatial digs while she whines about how badly he's treating her. And I do mean whines. . .shudder. The other 20% is spent in circular arguments with his dauntless friend, Harry, played by Sebastian Stan. Harry, in turn, lectures Nikki nonstop, with feminist phrases like "objectifying women" – no, seriously! – as Nikki vainly chases Heather, (Margarita Levieva) a small-time hustler who ultimately beats him at his own tired game.

This film gets Mr. Kutcher one nod for a sad little moment in a hotel room, where he hopelessly attempts to connect with someone, via a voice message.

But this reviewer is snatching back our one nod because of a sick final scene, involving a frog and a live mouse – and we wonder just who in Hades paid off PETA?

Wow. Ashton is more than Keanu 2.0!

[kiitah · 7/10 · 13 August 2009]

Within the first 5 minutes of opening, I thought Ashton really chose poorly in accepting this role; he chose a role too close to what he is perceived as in real life. First and foremost in my mind, he's an ex model hottie. Secondly, he has never seemed like the sharpest tool in the shed based on the roles he's played. Thirdly, I wonder would he be where he "is" today without Demi? He saunters in, first scene, looking like a cross between a gay hairdresser and a wanna be edgy member of Green Day. He's talking smack about how beautiful he is, and how he's ridden on the coat tails of his charm and appearance and sexed his way around LA. Boy, I thought, I'm glad these tickets were free...

In the end, I was surprised that I was able to suspend disbelief and actually believe what his character was feeling, saying and doing, and NO, it wasn't because the role wasn't a stretch for him. He actually *acted*, so much so that I forgot who he was and that I wasn't supposed to think he was doing a good job! The story line has some extraneous characters that muddle and muck up the story, and some are not as developed as could be, but all in all, for what it's intended for, it's a good escape. It shouldn't be classified as a romantic comedy though, there is nothing romantic about it. It's about a man who moves from Sugar Momma to Sugar Momma, whoring himself out to the highest bidder. In the end, he doesn't find love- appropriately his unrequited love chooses her own Sugar Daddy over him. If it were a true romantic comedy, the two poor but in love people would forsake their desire to live a lavish lifestyle with OPM and move into a refrigerator box together, but alas, no, she turns him down.

In the end, I found it a little depressing, actually, but isn't that how life really is? No happy ending here, and that made it actually better than it would have been with a nice, tight, Hollywood as usual movie wrapped up with a shiny, red bow.

As an aside, there's lot of eye candy for your viewing pleasure, not just of Ashton romping around in bed naked, but plenty of hot women, too.

An egregious attempt at film-making

[elyasburney · 2/10 · 5 January 2010]

This movie was dreadful. Firstly, Ashton Kusher may be suitable to play jovial roles in tawdry sitcoms; however, he lacks the talent to assume more serious parts. The main character in Spread is a young cad named Nikki (Kusher), who narrates about the complexities of living in Los Angeles. Yet his narration is mostly a collection of meaningless quotes that make him sound like a buffoon trying to appear knowledgeable.

Nikki visits a nightclub one evening and meets Samantha (Anne Heche), a rich older lawyer with a lavish condo. The two start a relationship and the film is loaded with sex scenes of this 'cougar' and her 'boy-toy.' Nikki moves into her condo (he is a bum without a house or a car, thus he repeatedly mooches off wealthy older women). After a few days, Samantha leaves for a business trip and Nikki invites some younger girls over for some carnal escapades. Samantha comes home early from her trip and catches Nikki cheating, yells at him, but then seconds later the two start having sex.

The character development in the movie is flimsy. Heche's acting is acceptable, yet the film neglects to explain how a gorgeous and successful lawyer is drawn to an underachiever like Nikki. The director of the film, David McKenzie, is focused on skin over story. This should be his last film for the silver screen and he should apply his skills to pornography, which seems to be his preference. That may sound harsh; however, anyone who directs a movie heavy on sex, low on plot, and with bad acting is not suited to make legitimate films.

As the story progresses, Nikki later genuinely falls in love with an attractive waitress named Heather (Margarita Levieva). But she is a hustler who abandons him for a rich businessman in New York. A dejected Nikki returns to L.A. where he gets a job delivering groceries.

This is 98 minutes of my life that I will never get back. None of the characters are worth caring for and the acting, aside from Heche, is lousy. The only reason I am not giving this movie a 1 rating is because my 2010 New Year's Resolution is be a nicer person and voting 2 out of 10 constitutes an act of generosity.

Very enjoyable

[imdbbl · 21 October 2009]

I've been meaning to watch this film for quite some time and I finally got a chance to do so.First,I'm a fan of Ashton Kutcher, I think he's a very charismatic actor who does fairly enjoyable movies. Secondly, I'm a sucker for films about love,sex and relationships in general,I'm also fascinated by L.A. and its lifestyle and fourth,this seemed to have an Alfie(2004) kind of vibe to it.I wasn't disappointed.Kutcher plays Nikki, and right in the beginning of the movie the character says that he came to L.A. with the dream of having an easy life,sleep with as many beautiful girls as possible and basically to have the time of his life and that most of this did,in fact, came truth.This is Nikki, a young and attractive guy who sleeps his way into the life of privilege he wants.His routine is fairly simple,he seduces someone with money and then stays around continually charming the person and earning their trust and eventually the person allows Nikki to stay in their house and most of the time they actually pamper him with free stuff. Nikki then uses this amazing houses or fancy clothes to impress someone else.Needless to say that he juggles several woman at once.At some point Nikki becomes attracted to a waiter but much to his shock this girl unlike most of the woman he sleeps with,does not fall for his little games or succumb to his tricks(which by the way he narrates to the audience trough the movie).Maybe because she's the one girl he apparently can't have or for some other reason(although the first seems accurate to me)Nikki falls in love with this girl. In the meantime Nikki is living in Samantha's house, a 30'something business woman he seduced.He ends up being caught cheating (with someone other then the waiter) and after a few fights the relationship ends.Broke and without a place to stay Nikki resorts to Heather,the waiter and moves in with her.He falls even more in love with her but he also finds out that she's playing the same cards as him,she is too whoring himself out to the highest bidder in order to have a lifestyle she couldn't possible afford. Nikki tries to make a commitment with Heather but in the end she chooses her own Sugar Daddy over him.Defeated Nikki gives up the lifestyle he had been leading and in the end he comes back to Samantha's house but as a delivery guy and we see that Samantha already replaced him with another young guy. There's no happy ending here which makes the movie so much better and realistic.This film is being misinterpreted as a romantic comedy,but it couldn't be more far from it. The film ends with a sad and depressing tone but isn't life like that at times? Also, the soundtrack is quite interesting and mainly compose by indie bands. Overall, a good movie, very enjoyable with lots of eye candy and a good performance by Kutcher.

On a side note, I've seen some people complain about the character's style saying that he looked gay and saying that the character wasn't believable as a womanizer...nonsense. His look can't be pulled off by everyone but its definitely a look and I think Kutcher played Nikki brilliantly, he managed to reveal the humanity in his character in a very subtle yet efficient way.

7/10

Warning: I am spreading the puns here for my review of "Spread"

[meeza · 7/10 · 12 April 2010]

The city of Los Angeles plays a prominent character in "Spread", a movie that certainly spreads the word that Los Angeles is not exactly angelic for everybody; even though it can be if you got the right plan of action, as least for a while it can. That leads us to the protagonist of "Spread", the homeless & carless Nikki portrayed by Ashton Kutcher. Nikki uses his physical good-looks to prey on the wealthy single women of L.A. so he can spread his orgasmic juices inside them, then in turn they can spread their home & car over to him. My hero! Kidding! One of Nikki's premier so-called victims would be the cougar-honey Samantha, who after meeting Nikki at a club, takes him to her gorgeous Hollywood Hills home and seduces the hill I mean hell out of him. Before you can say "I Slammed Sam", Nikki stays in her home for days and even drives her dazzling Mercedes Benz. Nikki still keeps hustling to the sexual tussling even though he temporarily lives in Samantha's home. He even throws a party when she is out of town so he can escalate the female body count. So for the first half of the "Spread", the aforementioned was the film's appealing portion. I expected a shift in the narration of the film, nothing great last forever for any main protagonist of a movie. But this could of have been done so much better! Cause all of a sudden, Director David MacKenzie spreads "Spread" into a feeble romantic narrative. That is when Nikki meets Heather, a coffee shop waitress who derails Nikki unexpectedly, and does have some secrets of her own; secrets that were so quite obvious that it spread like wildfire what they were as I was watching the movie. Ha? Hey, leave me alone! I am spreading it thick, pun style. I do credit MacKenzie for his vision of exhibiting the story of a serial womanizer in Los Angeles, and using the city as a central focus in that architecture. But again when Heather enters the spread, the film becomes an obtuse romance that you can care less how it develops and concludes. Jason Dean Hall's screenplay was rich in style during the first act of the film, but then when the Nikki & Heather romance was introduced the scribe was converted into a silly romantic contrivance. That Asthon acting show was not half-bad in his starring performance here compared to his past acting, but that is not a spread stretch. What the Heche? Anne Heche is back! She was exquisite as the sexually-driven Samantha. However, her counterpart female lead in the film Margarita Levieva was atrocious as the staid Heather. OK, I am tired of spreading my viewpoints of "Spread". Please spread the news on the mediocrity of "Spread". *** Average

A Nutshell Review: Spread

[DICK STEEL · 6/10 · 31 October 2009]

The one scene that will strike you and linger around after you walked out of the cinemas, it's the final scene. It's no spoiler, but it walked right out of National Geographic, where you see up close, how a toad devours a mouse. Swallow in fact, allowing it to semi-digest, while occasionally tugging at the tail. It's downright gross as a parting short, but the camera stayed firmly on it for minutes during the entire end credits.

Anyway, back to the film. If you're blessed with good looks and a fine bod, I suppose sometimes you wonder if you're God's gift to women. For Ashton Kutcher's Nikki, his is a life of a classic dreamer, thinking that with his kind of aesthetics, he could be living the life straight out of a Van Halen music video, with flashy cars, plenty of cash and fast women to spend the rest of his days with. Unfortunately with no life skills to offer except the ability to pleasure women, he exploits his talent in order to live up to that impossible dream.

It's pretty much an instructional video on the tactics used by contemporary gigolos, or at least those who are looking to live off rich sugar mommies. Like a hunter preying on his mark, Nikki's not looking out for hot young things to feed his lifestyle, that will come later after he's snagged the anchor, who is that successful, single middle aged lady to hook up with, leading him to Anne Heche's Samantha (who looks really hot in the film, mind you).

Inventor of the rollover sleeping smile, they form a symbiotic relationship, one needing a toy boy for those lonely nights, while the other needing her extravagant Peter Bogdanovich's ex- mansion, sturdy Mercedes which needless to say, comes in extremely useful for parties and hosting of other nubile women to sucker when the cat's away. The premise of living the life at another's expense, using a bodily trade off, reminded me of the French film Priceless starring Audrey Tautou, who plays the gold-digger in that film.

There's plenty of gratuitous nudity and sex to go around until the second half of the film which switched gears and turned out hunter into the prey, when he meets up with waitress Heather (Margarita Levieva) who's actually more of a player than he is, and it's like a match made in heaven in a karmic round-robin, with what's going around coming around. It is this aspect of the film that somewhat sagged that incredible, dream like freeloading taking place in the first half, and somehow turned this into sappy romance territory with its message on the consequence of non-permanence in relationships that will come back and haunt you.

Ashton Kutcher looked incredibly comfortable as the serial womanizer and slacker in life, clueless about what to do when he meets with the real woman of his desire. He gives Nikki that smugness and comfort in knowing that he's living the moment, with that natural despair coming in when he understands that he's now down the slippery slope of no return. Anne Heche pretty much owned the supporting role in the first act, before disappearing for Margarita Levieva to take over the female lead in the second act, as the two women to have made the most impact in Nikki's life.

I could come up with something naughty to say about its title as the parting shot, but I'll leave it at that. Spread isn't top class material with its profound sleaze, but at least it had that memorable ending shot enough to make you reel a little, and talk about it. Strictly for those interested in what the R21 fuss is all about, and surprisingly, a lot more females in the audience than there are men.

A sex comedy with plenty of sex, not enough comedy and nowhere near enough smarts

[Floated2 · 3/10 · 20 October 2010]

Spread is just basically a film where Ashton Kutcher gets to show-off and gets around to seeing a lot of pretty women fleshed and taking advantage of them. Its a sex comedy with enough sex and not enough comedy nor smarts to deliver. The movie sets its tone in the first few minutes with Ashton (Nikki) reading his first line while walking around. "I don't want to be arrogant, but I'm an incredibly attractive man," he informs by his dry narration – he ingratiates himself into the lives of rich older women to gain access to good clothes, fine food and luxurious living.

The film and its characters were very odd and weird. Nikki was very monotone and did what he wanted. Anne Heche (Samantha) was way generous towards Nikki, and it starts by their introduction. It seemed to fake and unrealistic. The film starts out rough in its first 30 mins then gets slightly better. The first half of the film is more of a sex-com with the adventures that Nikki takes involving Samantha. The 2nd half of the film involves Heather a waitress who Nikki eventually gets and stays with. This half becomes more of a rom-com and this is where the film goes downhill. In the second half, Samantha isn't in the film (except in the last 5 mins). The script and plot were just dumb and not great, the movie just falls apart and the film gets boring. Its a rather different Hollywood film.

Another thing with the film is that Kutcher's performance wasn't all that great and he wasn't really believable as the gigolo. Also the clothes he's showing wearing are pretty silly (colourfull clothes and suspenders) Lastly, the ending was actually pretty weird and depressing, though not much. The audience didn't really care much about him in the first place and the ending showed that. But it still have should ended better. The last few minutes ends with Nikki speaking and picking up a mouse and making his toad eat the mouse. It sets like that for the last 5 minutes until the screen went black, its pretty bizarre. But before that it showed that he didn't end up with neither girl (Heather or Samantha). The film has its moments but not many, and they should have added more comedy. It really isn't a funny film and I don't think it was really trying but the trailers showed it out to be a romantic comedy. The movie was pretty bad and could have been much better.

Unexpectedly Good

[gleben18 · 7/10 · 29 May 2014]

when i first read the plot summary, i was expecting a fairly bland, generic movie. this is not what i saw. I enjoyed this movie and it was not something you'd expect from Ashton Kutcher. the original story plot and strong characters made this movie far better than a low budget, 1 star movie ever should be. the versatility of Kutcher is shown as he plays a character that isn't anything like is normal. i thought the movie was entertaining due to the new, fresh plot line. Despite the fact there was a fair amount of 'adult' content within, it managed to keep your mind of of this and use it in an almost tasteful way, and use it to build the root of the characters even stronger. this is definitely a film i recommend, the only reason i give it a 7 is because of the fact this could have been made far better with a higher budget. going on plot alone, this is a solid 9. if you have 1hr and a half, watch it.

Made my skin crawl...

[stevenaisbitt · 4/10 · 22 June 2019]

I knew what I was about to watch, when I sat down to this, but it was (for me) painful. This blatently vacuous love letter to greed, arrogance and shallow meaningless sex frankly offended every moral sensibility I have. There are men out there who survive in this way. No self respect. I don't know how they look themselves in the eye, at the mirror. It gets four stars for being well made and Anne Heche is very sexy.

Not what I expected, at all.

[spikeypoet · 7/10 · 6 January 2019]

This film takes me back to my early twenties, where I didn't really know myself, my likes, dislikes, or the world around me for that matter. I dabbled in the modelling world, hung around with shallow people, who also didn't know themselves or the world around them... this film is THAT. This film served as a stark reminder of the uncertainties of youth and the mind-numbingly painful, aimless drifting through shallowness out of boredom and lack of ambition. THIS IS NOT COMEDY. This is a stark lesson: learn yourself, or get used by other drifters.

One word: Horrid.

[carling_forbes · 1/10 · 16 January 2010]

I watched this movie with my boyfriend, thinking it might be OK. We were so very wrong. Everything from the plot to the acting was just awful. I am usually a fan of Ashton, but this was just crap. I can never look at suspenders the same way again---why did he have to wear them in EVERY single scene? In terms of the plot, it was so predictable once you understood what was going on. Watching Ashton live out of a garbage bag and whore himself out to Anne Heche was certainly not something we had prepared ourselves for on date night. I also like Anne Heche, but I really did not need to see her naked. Not too mention, the whole vaginal-reconstruction thing was a bit much for us.If you consider yourself even slightly intelligent, do not watch this movie.

Surprisingly Good

[moossaboossa · 8/10 · 16 April 2011]

After reading a few reviews, I expected this movie to be a mildly pornographic rom-com. As the credits scrolled, however, I was surprised to find that this movie was not only well made and well casted, but the story behind well thought out too. Although some aspects of the story were clearly unreal (like the glamour and ease with which Ashton Kutcher picked up women), I thought that some things portrayed in Spread were rather accurate. One idea, which Nicky (Kutcher) mentions several times, is how people run to LA to pursue their dreams- but how the reality is that nothing is quite as magic as it seems. Most movies, having been made in Hollywood, would not necessarily incorporate this into the story. But this movie daringly features not only this but other controversial issues, and is therefore quite thought provoking. On the surface I can see why people thought the scenes of sexual nature were unnecessary, but really, the sex was part of the story. It was showing what Ashton Kutcher, who plays a gigolo, did to survive. And it showed how meaningless it all way for him. Overall I really enjoyed this film, and think that it carries a much deeper meaning than one would presume.

Spread has eclectic and pseudo style

[EqbalAnwari · 7/10 · 18 May 2010]

The protagonist: With all his ambiguities and uncertainties, Nikki (Ashton Kutcher) is catapulted in LA to try his luck and envisage a better future there. He already knows the art of seduction to what is believed to be perfection- being tall, elegant and vulpine. He seduces women different from his own milieu. Callous Nikki's actions throughout the movie add a really chilling level of apathy to the character whereas from a technical standpoint, it all changes and one can see the gallantry on his eyes when he flies to New York to bring back the only love of his life, Heather.

The theme: In a sense, Spread can be labeled as the element of unreciprocated love story for after building relationships with so many women (including best friend of his mother's who used to tell him "you are going to be a little hearth-breaker…" to Emily to Samantha- Nikki meets Heather, who unbeknownst to him, is playing the same game…

The female actresses: In most cases, the female actresses have played their parts brilliantly: Samantha (Anne Heche) on a number of fight scenes with Nikki. Heather (Margarita Levieva) telling Nikki the story of his sick brother or at the end of the movie when Nikki enters the apartment until Heather's husband comes to her final words "Honey, do you have a five for the grocery boy?"

The music: Great music, lucid dialogue, glittering lighting "both the sun's and the candle lights'" and various amorous scenes provide jovial hue to the film that for these qualities alone, I've watched it four times in a row in less than two months.

The shortcomings: Though, on a certain level, the movie has got some minor flaws as well i.e. the dialogue fails to convince us of the authenticity of the situation when Nikki's best friend Harry (Sebastian Stan) ends up their friendship for no particular reason except for Nikki to parody him/himself..? Likewise, in a similar argument scene where Nikki is caught by Samantha while being given a blue job by a regular female friend; that (Nikki's and Samantha's brief argument) cannot either provide enough reason to make the audience believe in the genuineness of the scene.

Except for a fraction of a Times Square scene, the whole movie is filmed in LA. It would have been a more successful one if the makers included occasions such as Christmas or Halloween; just to have provided the movie goers some divergence.

Given all that has been written, to everyone's credit especially Ashton's and David's for they have done it with great verve. An exquisite paean I must admit- well done! If you like comedy romance, go watch this. I'm sure you enjoy it. Bear in mind, it has got several sex scene.

Acting is fine, storyline is weak

[intelearts · 5/10 · 26 October 2009]

Spread tries to be hollow, vacuous, shallow, and then tries to be more and cannot make the spread.

The story of the gigolo who wants more than possessions when he meets a girl who doesn't fall for his routine might be OK but the arc is seriously lacking in places and what we get is a jump start stop of a movie that takes us on a road to nothing.

Ashton's performance is fine but he cannot compete against the weak storyline: the dialog is actually passable but the plotting is kind of weak.

Yes this is a movie where woman have the power and about how times have changed for guys. And yes it's true, good looks alone won't cut it, but it is just passable as film.

If you like the actors or the theme you may enjoy this; we found it hovered uneasily between the disillusionment of the American dream and a redemption tale - which it ain't....