Search - Spread [Blu-ray] on Blu-ray

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 7/30/2023...

Pretty touche moments throughout with some a bit too over the top and unbelievable. Super strong start with a slowdown and fizzle. It picked back up but never regained its momentum. RIP Anne Heche.

Todd F. from WEBSTER, FL
Reviewed on 1/21/2011...

A funny and at times sad film.Anne Heche has never looked sexier.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Shallow, meaningless, but what a Blu

Steve Kuehl | Ben Lomond, CA | 11/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Some have written about how meaningful and articulate this film is, but once the credits roll it honestly feels like you just watched a soft core take on a few LA hedonists and nothing else.

Ashton and Heche signed on because of the "story" (making of docu) but considering every scene they have together involves the fun stuff, it makes you wonder. Anyway, we watch all of these shallow people muddle through their cons and bed campaigns as Ashton's character narrates his success strategy at this lifestyle, but in the end I really did not care about any of them. Apparently, (the cover art states) our main character is hoping to find something real, but that never happens as we hop from one party, bed conquest and sleepover to the next. But - they found a way to put 7.1 sound on this film - why of all films does this get the sound some strive to hear all year but only get once or twice?

The sound was outstanding. The opening sequence has a helicopter buzz hitting all seven channels, followed by a one-take night club scene (that was very well done: stairs, railing pans, reusing extras, etc.) where the music and voices travel all around you in eloquent fashion. The Blu clarity is outstanding as is the color; plenty of skin tones and dark contrasts against candlelight and such. The LA basin gets shown in all its glory several times in a decent skyline haze. The supplements are:

* 16:10 minute Living the Dream (making of). Plenty of production material, hows and whys.
* 5:44 minute Behind the Scenes with Ashton. Actually the only Ashton part of this was everyone else talking about how great it is to work with him...yech.
* 3:53 minute World According to Nikki. As if they could find a way to get any shallower, Ashton gives the viewer a detailed training academy on how to score a gal in LA...whatever.
* Commentary with cast and crew. This is actually an intermittent picture-in-picture. It is a smaller box than normal but the information is interesting and it covered a nice background on how they did the one-take shot. It comes up every few minutes and still allows you to hear what is going on in the film.

You read about people claiming this has an amazing ending, a brilliant motif, outstanding neo-realism, blah, blah, blah. Just did not grab me as anything other than a well-filmed depiction of the hedonistic side of LA.

If you are a fan of these pretty actresses doing their first hard R roles, than this would be your film (I remember Maragrita the most from Noise). Watching Ashton walk around in the buff didn't work for me - but I know there is a target audience out there for this one. 2 for the film, 1.5 for the Blu specs and .5 for the supplements. Enjoy."

Has potential but lacks depth

z hayes | TX | 11/24/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Spread" is basically a grifter movie with Ashton Kutcher playing (rather credibly I might add) Nikki, an over-confident hustler who lacks both a home and a car, and thus resorts to preying on older, successful (yet attractive) women. One of these is Anne Heche, who plays a successful attorney, Samantha, and finding Nikki's brash overtures rather charming, takes him home to her posh pad in the Hollywood Hills. Both Samantha and Nikki have hot sex all over Sam's luxurious property, and the sex scenes are pretty explicit and creative. Nikki should be happy in this arrangement, yet the viewer senses Nikki's restlessness. Instead of cementing the 'deal', Nikki inexplicably resorts to reckless acts, like having sex with another woman in Sam's bed whilst he thinks she's out of town...well, the Nikki-Samantha coupling continues, even as Nikki finds himself increasingly attracted to a waitress, Heather (Margarita Levieva) who is also hustling for money and stuff.

This is where the movie sort of veers off tangent and weakens - I found Anne Heche to be an interesting character. She is outwardly confident and controlling in the relationship with Nikki, but then she reveals her own set of insecurities by some of her actions. Unfortunately, when Heather comes into the picture, Heche's Samantha recedes into the background. The Nikki-Heather relationship doesn't altogether add up - Heather reveals certain character deficits which makes one wonder why Nikki is so smitten with her (empathy perhaps?). There are other facets of their relationship that is presented as is with no credible explanation. Ultimately, it's this lack on character development and in-depth exploration that lets this movie down, though it still makes for an interesting and engaging viewing experience."

Racy, sexy, and bittersweet. An unexpected and edgy film wor

Edain Morgan | California, United States | 08/18/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"3.5ish out of 5 stars

Sexy, bittersweet and unforgiving, Spread is a racy bedroom tussle through a Hollywood dream. Despite the somewhat mis-leading preview, this edgy indie flick is anything but your standard chick-oriented romantic comedy. With a lot of heart - and a lot of bedroom antics - this is probably one of the better films I've seen in a quite a while.

Nikki (portrayed by Ashton Kutcher) is a homeless, jobless, playboy with big dreams, who uses his dubious charms and perfected sex skills to live off of rich beautiful women; sleeping his way into the Hollywood social elite. His most current target is Samantha (great performance from Anne Heche), a rich lawyer who spends most of her day away from her very lavish home. And Heather (beautifully done by Margarita Levieva) is the pretty young waitress that has Nikki all figured out.

At first, Nikki is a figure we all love to hate and hate ourselves in loving. But as the pressure of his own actions builds, and his world begins to unravel, we cannot help but feel for him as a human being. While there are funny and romantic moments within this film, it truly is about the price of being willing to do anything "for the dream of an easy life."

One of the best aspects of this film for me is that it doesn't play it safe. It's going to push buttons and make some people uncomfortable (heck, even I squirmed a bit). I think that's awesome! Not enough movies - and books for that matter - really resist the boundaries of their genres, their ratings, and the fact that this story does is refreshing.

Some have complained that this movie "makes women look bad." Or that this is a pointless story of people having sex. If you only watch the surface, and refuse to look deeper, maybe that's true. A more thoughtful look may reveal that each character is nuanced with good and bad qualities. And I think some are forgetting that this is a movie about morally flexible people - not just a bad guy with lots of stupid women who fall for him. Not one character, whether seen or unseen, is the epitome of good or bad. They are all flawed.

NOTE TO PARENTS: Don't take your 7 year olds to go see this! I couldn't believe it when I saw people taking their very young children to this film - it's a hard R (not for violence or swearing - but for sexual content). There is a lot of sex in this film, very graphic sex, so if that bothers you or if you're not going to be able to see past that, take a pass on this one."