User reviews

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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....

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.

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

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.

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....

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.

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.