"Spread" Puts Out Too Early.

Spread

Directed By: David Mackenzie

Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Anne Heche, & Margarita Levieva

Like many movies, Spread begins on the right foot. It introduces us to the undeniably despicable Nikki (Ashton Kutcher), a man who is vile but with the slight potential to become something better. He moved to Los Angeles because he was good-looking and hoped to live a life of luxury without having to work...because, you know, he is pretty and pretty people don't need to work. He hits on rich single women, like the blatantly naive Samantha (Anne Heche), who then invite him to live with them, buying him all sorts of fancy things. Basically, he's a prostitute, but he's too arrogant to admit it. Moving in with Samantha in her beautiful home and having her buy him heaps of designer clothes, he seems to have everything he could want...but then he gets even more selfish. And, when he gets selfish, Spread falls apart. You see, up to that point, the movie actually has a narrative; it's telling a compelling, albeit repugnant, story and it's telling it well. But then, that story arc is taken away and, in its place, we get...well, nothing really. This leaves Spread spinning its wheels for the rest of its runtime, not really going anywhere and not giving us any reason to stay behind. It does everything it possibly can with what it has far too early. Basically, to give you an idea of the problem, it's like during sex, when a guy...well, I think you get the idea.

It's really quite unfortunate that Spread loses its footing so early, because it really has so much potential. It's initial story is sleazy, but very intriguing. I found myself becoming immediately immersed in this undeniably disgusting, but surprisingly beautiful world. You see, we do live in a culture that puts physical beauty on a pedestal and, thus, Spread is not as outlandish as we might hope it is. I can imagine that people like Nikki do, in fact, exist. I can also imagine that there are women like Samantha who will take them in and spoil them. My problem with this movie really comes when a character named Heather (Margarita Levieva) is introduced, and Nikki begins to question the lifestyle he has chosen, a lifestyle that he spent the the entire first act touting as the best thing since sliced bread via intrusive and unnecessary narration. The flow didn't feel natural or realistic, but rather entirely scripted; perhaps that is why Spread really lost its motivation to me and why it felt as though it kept going simply for the sake of going. If this were a puppet show, you would be able to see the strings and the guy pulling them. That puppeteer is screenwriter Jason Dean Hall who has all the subtlety of a freaking battle axe and very little of that axe's edge. He substitutes real edginess with sex, but they certainly aren't equivalent.

But, good lord, Spread enjoyed its sex. It is all quite gratuitous, though. I felt that only one or two of the sex scenes were actually necessary; the rest were just there to give Ashton Kutcher a reason to disrobe. After all, he is the main draw of this movie, and I imagine that many women will watch it simply to see him. With this role and his role in Killers, Kutcher is slowly proving himself to be a serious actor, rather than a run-of-the-mill prankster. I really enjoyed his performance and, considering the fact that the script practically gave his character whiplash, I thought he came off quite fluidly and realistically. But, not even Ashton Kutcher - nor his surprisingly well-toned and oft-unclothed ass - can save Spread from falling victim to its script. A good movie must create momentum and then carry that momentum throughout its entire runtime, while every plot development feels natural and unscripted. Spread doesn't do this. It shows its entire hand too early and leaves the rest of its 97-minute runtime, which felt more like two hours by the end, with absolutely nowhere to go. Perhaps its greatest sin, however, is that, in its quest to condemn Nikki's lifestyle, it actually seems to be kind of endorsing it. Its message then is a bit sketchy. That is quite unfortunate.

But, at the risk of sounding like a sour puss, let me end on a bright note. Other than the things I mentioned above, Spread is a technically impressive movie. I must applaud director David Mackenzie's courage to film a nearly continuous three minute shot that, had it been helmed by a lesser director, probably wouldn't have even been thought of. It's too bad that those shots are avoided so often, because they are really very noticable and can give even the worst movie an extra level of depth. Mackenzie brings that same skill to the rest of the movie as well, capturing every aspect of Los Angeles quite well. The beautiful locales, particularly Samantha's home and elaborate pool area, make for an infectious setting. So, you know, at least we have pretty places to look at, while the plot is going nowhere. I also have to admit that I appreciated the fearlessness of the movie's ending (don't worry...I won't spoil anything). The ending becomes a little schmaltzy, but there are elements of it that are well-appreciated and decidedly dark. All of this good stuff, unfortunately, is piled on a script and a narrative that can't sustain it. So, when very early on in the movie, the script falls completely apart and can't regain its footing...well, the rest of it doesn't really matter.