Spread

Critic's Rating: 3.0
Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Anne Heche, Margarita Leveiva
Direction: David Mackenzie
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 hour 37 minutes


Movie Review: There is a sweet irony in this story that transports Spread from where it dangerously dangles: C-grade Hollywood to watchable drama. And strangely, most of the drama comes from the parting shot, where a giant toad tries to gobble a white mouse and takes his time swallowing it. Metaphor, anyone? Is that the big bad dream city (Los Angeles) guzzling the millions of dream chasers who flock towards its dazzling lights?

Kutcher sufficiently slips into the shoes of a pretty boy who is willing to do pretty much for the kingsize lifestyle. Slipping out of one convenient relationship after the other, he manages to find a degree of permanence with the super-rich Samantha, who indulges him, but only until he delivers....At the first sign of neglect, she cracks up and cracks him up too, leaving him no option but to end up homeless -- and benefactor-less-- again. That is, if he wants his self-respect to remain intact. But more than self-respect, there's something else that has Nikki obsessing: his love for the mysterious and elusive waitress, Heather, who ends up in different cars each night. sometimes, it's a Mercedes and sometimes, it's a Porche, with half-lit cigars spilling out of the ash trays. Doesn't take long for Nikki to figure out another gold-digger like him....The toy boy and the hooker do try to work out deals together, but the business partnership doesn't last for long. Why? Because romance sets in. It's bitter sweet romance, that can't stand a chance before bitter and harsh reality.

Watch it for Ashton Kutcher and his pretty boy charms. And also for his existential dilemma: to be a gigolo or a grocery boy