Toy boy - Un ragazzo in vendita

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....

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 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.

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.