Spread

In this trite but self-important tale of an L.A. boy-toy who finds himself hoisted, as it were, on his own petard, Ashton Kutcher plays Nikki, a handsome but vacuous young fellow who's come to the city for the sweet life. It's a goal he's pursuing as the kept boy of rich, older women hungry for affection, traipsing from one hillside mansion to the next as the spirit moves him. In his latest change of residence, Nikki moves in with attractive but needy Samantha (Anne Heche), and while you might expect him to settle down for awhile, he soon falls for Heather (Margarita Levieva), a hardboiled waitress, and for the first time discovers what it's like to be smitten and jealous. It should come as no surprise that Heather turns out to be Nikki's female counterpart, and his attempt to woo her away from her sugar daddy search leads to his own downfall as a male gigolo. Soon he finds himself wandering the streets, ridiculed by the working girls, and pawning his meager belongings just to pay for a cheap motel room. Spread morphs from a would-be stark exposé of a young man on the make through charm and good looks into a maudlin story of redemption through love, but even the usually ebullient Kutcher comes across as benumbed in a story that director David Mackenzie and screenwriter Jason Dean Hall treat as a powerful drama, even though it's nothing more than a heavy-handed morality tale. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary (by costars Ashton Kutcher, Anne Heche, and Margarita Levieva), a “Living the Dream” making-of featurette (16 min.), a behind-the-scenes segment with Kutcher (6 min.), “The World According to Nikki” character featurette (4 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a so-so film.] (F. Swietek)