Pay It Forward
Tags: thought-provoking, dramatic, comedy, inspiring

Plot synopsis:
A 12-year-old schoolboy in Las Vegas, Nevada named Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) is given a class project to complete by his social studies teacher Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey), a man with terrible burn scars on his face and neck. His task is to come up with a plan that will change the world through direct action. On his way home from school later that day, Trevor notices a homeless man, Jerry (James Caviezel) and decides to make a difference in Jerry's life. Trevor then comes up with the plan to "pay it forward" by doing a good deed for three people who must in turn each do good deeds for three other people, creating a charitable pyramid scheme. Trevor's plan is to help Jerry by feeding and housing him so he can "get on his feet."The next morning, Trevor's mother, Arlene McKinney (Helen Hunt), a single mother recovering from alcoholism, becomes angry with Trevor after finding Jerry in their house. She then accuses and confronts Eugene at the school about the reason Trevor has allowed Jerry into their home. Eugene is also intrigued by Trevor's response to the social studies project.Later that night back at their home, Trevor confronts his mother about her alcoholism, and in a fit of anger she slaps him across the face. Trevor runs away from home, and Arlene asks Eugene to help her find him. They find Trevor at a bus station, about to be molested. Trevor and Arlene embrace in relief after Arlene apologizes profusely.Meanwhile, Chris (Jay Mohr), a journalist, is trying to find out why a total stranger gave him a brand new Jaguar S-Type car after Chris' old 1965 Ford Mustang was damaged in a car accident. The stranger's only explanation is that he is simply "paying it forward". When Chris asks him for more information, the man explains that, when he recently visited a hospital while his daughter was suffering an asthma attack, a gang member suffering from a stab wound actually took up a gun to force the doctors to look at the man's daughter before she collapsed, prompting Chris to begin his search again.After Trevor's apparently unsuccessful attempt to help Jerry, he decides to help Eugene by setting him up with Arlene, Trevor's own mother. Their relationship grows in strength until Arlene's ex-husband, Ricky (Jon Bon Jovi), who claims he has "changed" and has quit drinking, shows up unannounced and Arlene decides to give him another chance.When Arlene later tries to explain her choice to Eugene, the audience learns how Eugene's burns were the result of terrible child abuse by his father. Eugene is concerned not just about the abusive and violent nature of Trevor's father, but that the simple absence of a loving father is detrimental to Trevor's well-being. He explains that his father was always abusive of him and his mother always took him back. At thirteen, Eugene ran away from home and returned home when he was 16, asking his mother to come with him but his father knocked him out and proceeded to burn him, resulting in a number of scars on his chest. Arlene feels that she must nevertheless give her ex-husband another chance, but shortly thereafter he becomes angry and violent and it appears that he has not in fact stopped drinking alcohol. Arlene realizes what a terrible mistake she has made. She feels that Eugene will never take her back, and Eugene for his part is not prepared to rekindle the relationship.At around this point, Jerry, who has moved on to another city, discovers a woman about to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge; even when she throws her purse at him and yells at him to get away, Jerry simply talks gently to her, encouraging her to come down and talk to him about her problems. Meanwhile, Chris discovers the gang member who helped the man's daughter, who reveals that he was brought into the 'pay it forward' movement when he was rescued from the police by a homeless woman in a car. Having located the woman (played by Angie Dickinson), she tells Chris that she herself was given the idea by her daughter--who turns out to be Arlene.Arlene seeks out her mother, Grace, whom she has not seen in three years. She says she wishes to say something to her and gives her mother the gift that enables Grace to have faith that she can become sober for a few days, long enough to visit the family and see her grandson: Arlene tells her mother that she forgives her for everything.Chris finally identifies Trevor as the originator of "pay it forward," and conducts a recorded interview at the school. Trevor explains his hopes for the concept, but voices his concerns that people may be too afraid to change their own lives in order to make the whole world a better place. Eugene and Arlene are both present during the interview. When Eugene hears Trevor's words, he realizes that he and Arlene should be together.As Eugene and Arlene reconcile with a passionate embrace, they hear shouts and scuffling outside. Trevor has come to the defense of a friend who is being attacked by bullies, and is trying to fight them off, although they are older and bigger. As Eugene and Arlene run down to stop the fight, the main bully who is a gangster-like boy impulsively pulls out a knife. Trevor is pushed onto the boy with the knife and is thus inadvertently stabbed in the abdomen. Trevor is rushed to hospital, where he dies from the stabbing.Terribly distraught, Arlene and Eugene are later watching a television news report about "pay it forward" and Trevor's death, and learn that the movement has grown nationwide. Venturing outside, they see hundreds of people gathering in a vigil to pay their respects to Trevor, with yet more people arriving in a stream of vehicles visible in the distance as the movie ends.(Source: WikiPedia. Bangs_McCoy)

Review: Pay It Forward is a prime example of what films are supposed to do:  make you laugh a little, cry a lot, and profoundly affect you in a way that keeps you thinking about the movie for weeks afterwards.
The quasi-religious ending probably will appeal to many, but from an artistic viewpoint, it seems unnecessary and not entirely suited to the tone of the film up to that point.Kevin Spacey is effective as the suppressed, sensitive teacher, while Helen Hunt is terrific, despite the role being far too close for comfort with her "As Good As It Gets" character.
I doubt it, but it certainly would go a long way to making this condemned world a better place to live.I don't think this is one of the best movies that I have ever seen.
The kind of audience that expects to have their life changed as the minutes tick by.And as a film that provides profound, poignant and tear-jerking moments, Pay It Forward will be perfect for this manner of audience.
Good actors like Jim Caviezel go almost unnoticed and you can't help but feel that a few more juicy characters would help the story become a little more...cohesive.The ending is a reinforcement of the atmosphere of the whole film.
In short, see this film for three things; Haley Joel-Osment, Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt.
The performances are excellent by all the cast members and the emotional tie you develop with the characters is so amazing that you start to feel what they are feeling and go through their good and bad times.
Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey surely do not disappoint and Haley Joel Osment performs perfect, giving everything one could expect from such a young actor.
From the beginning until the very end, the movie manages to touch somewhere deep in your heart, and although I did not the book it was based on, the plot makes a lot of sense in its entirety and shines with its originality.
A film of surprising majesty mainly because of its sincerity to convey the tale of a young (American) high school student, touchingly and masterfully played by the then 12-year-old Haley Joel Osment, who, at the instigation of his new teacher's challenge to the class, comes up with a beautiful and simple plan to make a difference in the world, involving doing a good turn to not just one person but three, who then, in turn, return the gift themselves to three more people, thereby very quickly spreading goodness in both directions, in the giving and receiving, in the most unlikely places and ways.
How could a movie with Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment be this bad.
I wanted to feel good when I left this movie, like after watching Field of Dreams or The Shawshank Redemption.
I told three people not to see this movie i hope they pay it forward and tell three people not to see it and so on and so on until no one sees this awful film..
It is way too in the extreme, which makes the corny, sentimental and ridiculous movie, even more stupid.I personally thought that Haley Joel Osment was a terrific actor, till I saw him in this movie.
Osment also plays the role of the insignificant little boy who saves the world with his "Pay it forward" idea.
I know some people don't agree with the idea of "Pay It Forward", but thinking about the word "possible", and people who simply have never had a chance to think about what they can do for the world they live in, this movie may do something good for us..
This is the original concept, except in the film a young student named Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) designed it so a person who receives a favor, is then told to pay it forwards to three other people.
Pay It Forward is not as moving as a film like the Elephant Man and Fearless, but is still a solid and thoughtful account of a boy who wants to change the lives of those he loves.The subject matter was well-realised, and that alone made it genuinely poignant.
The real star is Haley Joel Osment, possibly the most talented child actor on film, who perfectly conveyed the 11 year old boy who wants to make a difference.
Maybe what that means is, when I'm having a bad day, I'm supposed to remember what the characters were put through here and feel better for myself?"Pay it Forward" gets three stars only because, I have to admit, it's got good intentions.
This will be ordered on my next sallery!I love the acting, Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt are very good actors, and I can't stop being impressed by Haley Joel Osment.The story is great, the moral is right, the editing is flawless.
Besides being a big waste of talent and money , the movie have a ridiculous and poorly made script full of cheap sentimentalism ,horrible performances and the worst of all , a obscene excess of saccharine that goes to the limit in the forced and manipulative ending .
PAY IT FORWARD (2000) ***1/2 Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment, Jay Mohr, James Caviezel, Jon Bon Jovi, Angie Dickinson, Kathleen Wilhoite.
Well done and original drama about a grassroots movement inspired by education: new teacher and burn victim survivor Spacey (excellent as always) moves troubled seventh grade student (Osment, clearly not a fluke kid actor; he delivers a memorable performance) to pursue an extra-credit assignment: create an idea that will change the world.
Pleasantly set in and around Las Vegas, Kevin Spacey plays a physically burned middle school teacher whose class assignment prompts overreaching student Haley Joel Osment to make a difference in the world.
The alcoholic mother; the intelligent young boy screaming inside; the brilliant teacher who has a hurt perspective on the world and its people; and finally the thugly looking school boys who stab "Trevor" in the left side of this abdomen resulting in a William Shatner like death pose...
This movie was simply awful, and as someone who has always believed in random acts of kindness I felt that this did the idea more harm than good.From the word go the plotline revolving around Kevin Spacey's injuries was painfully obvious - telegraphed for the audience who may have left their imagination at home.An unashamed Hollywood attempt to prove that they can make positive moral statemtents...
It's been a long time since I'd seen "Pay It Forward" and the only thing I really remembered about it was the ending; which explains why I don't like this movie.To its credit, the performances are good, which takes the edge off of such a ham-fisted script.
I am still dreaming of a day where this movie inspires people and the idea of pay it forward will actually come to work.
And this one-way, narrow thinking of having to fix this world in order to confide to some (selfish) standard is just plain bad.The movie fails to "emotionally" manipulate, which was the whole point of what the producers were trying to do.
Why must they try so hard to make the audience cry, and in doing so, compromise the story.I thought the movie made Kevin Spacey (whom I love) look absolutely horrible!
Having just read the book upon which this film was based, I was very disappointed in seeing how much the movie changed the story.
Watching the commercials, I was intrigued about the "Pay it Forward" idea- you help 3 people, they help 3 more, in 45 days the whole world is fixed blah blah blah.
Unfortunately, this idea (and even its consequences to some degree) make up about 25 minutes (maybe less) of screentime.The rest of the movie forces you to endure lame examples of cliche societal problems (as if we didn't know there was injustice in the world): domestic abuse, drug addiction, homelessness, violence in schools, alcoholism, missing kids and even yes...
Why did Hunt's character have to be a single mother AND abused by her ex?Why can't everyone have just ONE thing wrong?This movie went WAY beyond what it needed to to establish the world is a bad bad place.
First off, I must admit that there were incredible performances from Haley Joel Osment, Helen Hunt, and Kevin Spacey.
The film can't decide if it wants to be a comedy or a drama and disappoints on both levels, with an ending more suited for a drama but ultimately feels completely wrong for this movie.
The acting is excellent - headed by Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and the exquisite Haley Joel Osment.
If this story can't get your heart and head moving toward finding ways to make small, significant, positive changes in your life and those around you, then you may never understand there is more to this world than our micromanaged little, selfish existences.Surrounding the main trio of actors is a splendid array of character actors - Jim Caviezel, Angie Dickinson (in one of her last roles), Jon Bon Jovi, Jay Mohr...
When Spacey's teacher character comments how after giving out the same ridiculous assignment to classroom after classroom year after year with little to no results, the "Pay It Forward" idea actually had a chance to change the world...
Haley Joel Osment had a great career as a child-star, you should check some of his films if you love children's movies including this title on the top of that list.
Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and finally, Haley Joel Osment - I think they fit their roles in the best way, it is possible.
PAY IT FORWARD the movie completely takes you into a very practical world where it makes it understand that how our world is in severe need of help from someone or others genuinely and if the cycle continues to help everyone how the problems will be solved easily.The most practical part ends with the last 10 minutes of the movie where we actually feels our heart broken because it actually narrates us only one simple thing and that is never SOME PEOPLE ARE TOO AFRAID OF CHANGING AND SOME WHO DOES THAN SEVERAL PEOPLE Doesn't LET THEM DO.At around with all the soberness and very gigantic display of movie an important plea can be made i.e THIS MOVIE CAN BE TAKEN INTO PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS WHICH WILL CHANGE THE FACE OF THE WORLD!!!!!!
It will probably make you a better movie watcher, though.RATING: 8/10 "The world is a ****hole; pardon my French and ****" "You do a good thing for three people.
Kevin Spacey was terrific, Haley Joel Osment was good, Helen Hunt...
Let me explain.I had never, ever heard anything about this movie, but I like Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, so when it came on, I sat back and watched it.
"Pay it Forward" is one of those "from the heart" movies - a nice story about social and personal transformations that, in this case, supposedly start with a 7th grade boy's homework assignment.
After watching the entire movie and thinking good thoughts about the filmmakers' efforts, I suddenly found myself sitting through the last 5 minutes completely bored and disgusted with a tear-jerking soap opera ending that was so contrived it looked like it was borrowed from Billy Jack..
Not to say that Kevin Spacey, Haley Joel Osment, and Helen Hunt aren't good in this movie, because they are.
How "Pay It Forward" misses the mark is hard to pin down, but it just does.That's not to say that Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment, batting .667 as a group recently against Oscar, don't give effective performances.
That would have paid it forward to the audience.Against the backdrop created by director Mimi Leder, the ending is deus ex machina, a way of extricating a mired plot and blithely refocusing on what was given short shrift for the previous 110 minutes -- the idea that a world-changing idea is certain to have its pitfalls, like life itself, but that it's worth exploring to the utmost.Rating: 6.5 of 10..
The film is worth seeing for Kevin Spacey's and Helen Hunt's performances.
Others who have dispraised "Pay it Forward" have softened their censure by speaking of its "heart in the right place" or its "good intentions." But as is betrayed by its hauling in of an audience-tested cliche from every successful movie it could think of, its only real intention was to make a pile of money (in which I believe it failed).
I mean it did have Haley Joel Osment, Kevin Spacey, and Helen Hunt in it.
I love the idea of paying it forward, and I love the actors in this movie.
Haley Joel Osment, Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt shine in this terrific movie.
Young kid tries to change the world with the idea of doing someone a big big favour which they then have to "pay forward" to 3 other people.
There's a great cast, Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt play the adult leads with the-then child actor Haley Joel Osment playing the 11-year-old protagonist of the story.
After all, Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and the young Haley Joel Osment all come with impressive pedigrees.
Kevin Spacey is Eugene Simonet, a physically scarred social studies teacher who inspires a particular 7th grader named Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) on the basis of a different kind of extra credit assignment.
Trevor's idea is to change the world with a particular system of paying it forward where you do a good deed for three people and it branches out.
Pay it forward is a great concept I love the beauty of how it works, it's the honor system like a bobble passing on to another making the world better just a little.
-something they can't do on their own- and doing it for them, thus creating a chain of benevolence, and goodwill which hopefully will be perpetuated:By the three people we've just helped, following our example.With this in mind, he finds an indigent man (Jim Caviezel), and decides to help him out, giving him some money, and letting him sleep in his house for one night without his mother's knowledge.When this first attempt seems to crash and burn, Trevor turns his attention to his diligent but but deeply sorrowful teacher Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey), who appears to have no one in his life who loves him, and who's face is tragically disfigured.Trevor's mother Arlene (Helen Hunt), is a struggling young cocktail waitress in Las Vegas who's recovering from a long bout of alcoholism, and having trouble coping with her child's disappointment in her.With a little maneuvering from Trevor, the two of them get together, and begin a relationship which, though great in the beginning, threatens to fall apart as obstacles block it's path.Meanwhile, in what appears to be the near future (and serving as a poignant opening to the movie), an L.A journalist named Chris Chandler (Jay Mohr) is given a brand new Jaguar by a complete stranger after his own car gets destroyed.Struck by this out of the blue event, he decides to investigate the matter further, which uncovers a chain of events eventually leading to Trevor himself.Pay It Forward is a terrific, and refreshing movie which manages to have a little humor despite it's dramatic premise.Everybody is good in it, and everybody seems committed to what the story has to say.I was particularly impressed that the director was a woman, since not too many women are good at directing movies.The ending is shocking, but is really the only good way to bring the story to a close.Those who don't agree should see the movie again.Originally, Review #75Posted On:
Kevin Spacey is excellent as always, Helen Hunt gives one of the best performances of her career, and Haley Joel Osment proves that he is, pound for pound, one of the best actors working.I liked the film overall, but I really wanted to like it more than I did.
The first half of the film sets up an interesting plot, then the second half focuses almost entirely on the developing romance between Trevor's mother and teacher and the actual story behind the film - a young boy attempting to make the world a better place - almost becomes a sub-plot.The ending also felt like an easy way out for the filmmakers and a cheap attempt at manipulating the audience's emotions.
Pay it forward is not really a good movie.
If the movie had focused all the way on the pay it forward thing, it would have worked much better.
Based on the novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde, the film, although perplexing at times, comes to life thanks to well played roles by a very gifted cast."Pay It Forward" is the name of an idea originated by a young 11-year-old, Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment).
It is Trevor's first day of seventh grade and his intimidating social studies teacher, Mr. Simonet (Kevin Spacey), gives his class an abnormal and seemingly impossible yearlong assignment: Think of an idea to change our world, and put it into action.
The movie is about a sweet young man, so pure and innocent that when his social-studies teacher gives him an assignment to make the world a better place, he comes up with a model that he believes will change everything.
Kevin Spacy, Hellen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment are all good, and if the film had been limited to the drama between these three characters it would have been a satisfying story.
Cringeworthily trite.The characters are quite difficult to like: the irritating, whiny yet do-gooder kid (played by Haley Joel Osment), the smug, aloof, pretentious teacher (played by Kevin Spacey).
Cringeworthily trite.The characters are quite difficult to like: the irritating, whiny yet do-gooder kid (played by Haley Joel Osment), the smug, aloof, pretentious teacher (played by Kevin Spacey).
This act, known as pay it forward, is what Trevor does in the movie.
This is a heartwarming and touching movie where you can't help but wish ideas like this would work in the real world.