Spread

Friday 11th December 2009

Dir. David Mackenzie
Rating ***1/2

Inspired by films like Shampoo, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and American Gigolo, director David Mackenzie presents an explicit look into the immoral life of Hollywood high-lifers and the shameless things they do to sustain it.

Meet Nikki (Aston Kutcher), the beautiful lothario who is living out his fantasy lifestyle of sex and money in none other than Hollywood, California. Nikki has no home, no car and no job, but with his charm and good looks he prides himself on duping wealthy middle-aged women (Anne Heche) into providing for his every need. From Prada sweaters to luxury sports cars, Nikki has it all and when things hit a snag he can count on his buddy Harry (Stan) to bail him out with a place to stay. But when Nikki meets Heather (Margerita Levieva) at a coffee shop one day, his charm that he’s grown so dependent on fails him, and when he learns that Heather is not as innocent as she seems, the two hit it off and the game of one-upmanship ensues. But as their friendship strengthens, feelings inevitably come into play and it’s up to the two hedonists to decide whether love or living a life of luxury is of more importance.

Despite dreadful reviews since it’s screening in Sundance, Spread is a surprisingly candid foray into the shallow and morally lack lifestyle of high-end Hollywoodites. Casual sex and unapologetic debauchery are delved into, yet not glamorized, as we follow Nikki and learn that despite how impressive things might seem from the onset, the truth remains that he is a homeless, jobless narcissist who uses women, his friends and his family for his own gain. Albeit with overindulged sex scenes, the film cleverly slips from being an initial playful look at the life of a Hollywood boy-toy to a stark look at a narrow-minded, amoral young man, and with a notable performance from Ashton Kutcher, Spread is an unjustly dismissed flick worth seeing.

PUBLISHED IN SCREEN JABBER

Carriers

Thursday 10th December 2009

Dir. Alex & David Pastor
Rating **

With the H1NI flu pandemic almost behind us, a film about a deadly viral global outbreak destroying humanity is just what the doctor ordered.

With a pandemic virus having infected and killed most of the world’s inhabitants, brothers Brian (Chris Pine) and Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci), along with girlfriends Bobby (Piper Perabo) and Kate (Emily VanCamp), are on the road in search of their childhood vacation spot, Turtle Beach, in the hope of having a safe place to stay to wait for the deadly virus to cease. But on their journey the foursome come across Frank who is in desperate need of fuel to drive his infected daughter to a safety zone. After fleeing the risk of catching the deadly virus from the youngster, the group return to offer a helping hand, but as they journey from town to town with the infected girl in tow, they encounter deadly circumstances that force them to make tough decisions in order to stay alive.

Despite the premise of a deadly virus, this film includes neither zombies nor gory flesh-tearing scenes. Instead, the Pastor brothers focus on how civilization fractures in the midst of fighting for survival, and as the film progresses, the various ways humanity might falter, if it were faced with a pandemic in real life, unwinds – the desertion of family, the betrayal of lovers, illogical and immoral lust – the film even includes two Christians who attempt to abandon the group, before being gunned down for gas.

The concept of the film, albeit a unoriginal one, is rather promising, yet is let down by leading men Pine and Pucci – Pine with his over-dramatised obnoxiousness, and Pucci with his infuriating sissy-boy persona; and with numerous inconsistencies involving the contagiousness of the virus, Carriers offers little more than shallow entertainment.

PUBLISHED IN SCREEN JABBER