Spread 2009

Stephen Holden, New York Times: More skin is shown in Spread than in most Hollywood movies. But despite twitches of insight into its characters and their world, Spread refuses go more than skin deep. Read more

Boston Globe: Read more

Glenn Whipp, Chicago Tribune: Its formulaic, unconvincing story adds little to the conversation about slack ambition, mutual exploitation and evolving social mores. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: The film becomes unintentionally funny when he falls for another hustler (Margarita Levieva) with even less conscience, their grand passion leading to ludicrous behavior and soap-opera dialogue. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Is there anything soggier than a cad redeemed? Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Although Kutcher deserves some credit for trying to spread his professional wings, it quickly becomes clear that he's in over his head. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: A witless homage to Shampoo and American Gigolo that's brain-dead on arrival. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: The film doesn't quite come off, though lots and lots of clothes do during its randy, random 97 minutes. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Props to Kutcher for going to surprising, painful places. There's something haunted in his portrayal that hits hard and sticks. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Mackenzie is a consummate stylist, one of British cinema's emerging 21st-century talents, who has displayed a remarkable ability to make interesting movies that get in their own way and never reach wide audiences. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It's hard to know where to begin on how awful this is. Read more

James Bradshaw, Globe and Mail: 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. Read more

Hank Sartin, Time Out: Read more

Tom Huddlestone, Time Out: Shallow, melodramatic, pretentious and wildly misguided, it's also ambitious, entertaining and rather funny. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: The pic reveals the palpable pressure to resolve matters pressing heavily on a screenwriter who opted for an unsatisfactory shortcut to an ending. Read more

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: Spread becomes a sloggy, tepid comeuppance tale. Read more