Spread

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 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.

Ashton Kutcher is Nikki, a hot young stud, who moves to LA, and seems to be getting by on his looks. His next lover/date/host is Samantha (Ann Heche), who he picks up in a restaurant. Along the way, he spouts SO MANY rules on how to be a... gigolo. Is there a better word for what he does? Leech? Kept guy? When Nikki meets the chick from the coffee shop (Margarita Levieva), he wants his "cake". And to eat it too. Is that an old enough reference? But the girls are on to him. And his friends have had enough. Where's he going to sleep tonight? Kind of a different take on Shampoo, from 1975. It's okay. Nothing too groundbreaking. A lesson to others, i guess. One interesting note - we can see the LAX tower just getting under construction.. that's pretty cool! Directed by british David Mackenzie. Story by Jason Hall, Paul Kolsby.

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.

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....