"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.