Nikki
(Ashton
Kutcher)
has
found
the
key
to
survival
in
glamorous
Los
Angeles:
He
picks
up
older,
affluent
women
and
shacks
up
with
them,
romancing
them
as
they
support
him.
His
latest
conquest
is
Samantha
(Anne
Heche),
a
lawyer
afraid
of
aging
and
is
willing
to
go
along
with
his
scheme.
But
when
he
meets
a
waitress,
Heather
(Margarita
Levieva),
who
knows
his
game
and
--
more
importantly
--
plays
it
even
better
than
he
does,
Nikki
is
smitten.
But
can
they
find
real
love?
Produced
through
his
own
company,
Katalyst
Films,
the
best
contribution
Kutcher
makes
Spread
in
his
easygoing
personality,
a
good
old
boy
affability
that
has
become
his
trademark.
Whether
in
an
opulent
Hollywood
Hills
mansion
or
at
the
counter
of
a
modest
coffee
shop,
Kutcher
makes
Nikki
a
stylish
metrosexual,
that
men
want
to
befriend
and
women
want
to
bed.
His
standout
scenes
involve
casual
moments
of
conversation
and
goofball
behavior.
When
Spread
turns
more
emotional
and
dramatic,
Kutcher
and
the
film
fail.
For
this
kind
of
film
to
work
it's
necessary
to
like
or
at
least
feel
sympathy
for
the
characters.
Unfortunately,
even
during
the
hard
times,
Nikki
is
vacuous
and
uninteresting,
and
Kutcher,
try
as
he
might,
is
unable
to
bring
him
to
life.
Heche
does
her
best
with
a
thinly
drawn
role
and
other
performances
are
adequate
but
mostly
just
there
as
window
dressing
for
Nikki.
The
film's
biggest
problem,
though,
is
that
it
spends
so
much
time
in
a
vacuous
Hollywood
demimonde
that
some
of
the
emptiness
inevitably
rubs
off.
Eventually,
Nikki
“gets
real"
–
he
sees
how
hollow
his
dreams
have
been
and
starts
a
more
honest
life
from
scratch,
delivering
groceries
for
the
rich
women
whose
fridges
he
used
to
raid.
But
it's
hard
to
believe
he
can
build
a
new
life
on
such
a
shallow
foundation.
And
neither
he
nor
any
of
the
other
characters
who
get
their
just
desserts
earn
our
admiration.
Which
leads
to
one
question:
What's
the
moral
of
this
immorality
tale?
Cast:
Anne
Heche,
Ashton
Kutcher,
Margarita
Levieva,
Maria
Conchita
Alonso,
Hart
Bochner,
Sarah
Buxton
and
Shane
Brolly