Pay It Forward (2000)

Pay It Forward is a multi-level marketing scheme of the heart. Beginning as a seventh-grade class assignment to put into action an idea that could change the world, young Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) comes up with a plan to do good deeds for three people who then by way of payment each must do good turns for three other people. These nine people also must pay it forward and so on, ad infinitum. If successful, the resulting network of do-gooders ought to comprise the entire world. Trevor's attempts to get the ball rolling include befriending a junkie (James Caviezel) and trying to set up his recovering-alcoholic mother (Helen Hunt) with his burn-victim teacher (Kevin Spacey), who posed the assignment.

While this could have turned into unmitigated schmaltz, the acting elevates this film to mitigated schmaltz. By turns powerful and measured, the performances of Spacey, Hunt, and Osment can't make up for the many missteps in a screenplay that sanitizes the look of the lower-middle class and expects us to believe that homeless alcoholics and junkies speak in the elevated manner of grad students. (Can that really be Angie Dickinson as Hunt's dispossessed mother? Yes, it is!) The germ of the story is a good one, though, and one may wonder how it would have been handled by the likes of Frank Capra, who could balance sentiment with humor. But clearly Capra would never have let the ending of his version to take the nosedive into cliché and pathos that director Mimi Leder has allowed in this film. More than a few viewers will also recognize that Leder has blatantly borrowed her final image from Field of Dreams, where its intended effect was more keenly and honestly felt. --Jim Gay Amazon.com

 Faith in Action - PAY IT FORWARD
Whoever came up with this story is brilliant.
Maybe if everyone watched this movie the world
would be a better place to live in.
A 7th grade student takes the time to help a homeless
man and starts a movement called PAY IT FORWARD.
In return that man has to do 3 nice things for 3 other people.
each person has to do 3 nice things to 3 other people until it
covers the world.
The sad part is just when the movement is catching on the boy who started it gets killed by some kids that he jumped into a fight trying to help someone not get beat up, and then one of the kids stabbed him in the stomach.
I rate this movie a 10 from 1to10!! May 10, 2008

 Concerned with Language
I had seen this movie several years ago, and I can tell you, the meaning of the movie is outstanding! However, this particular version must be a remake, and they have added "adult language" and in my opinion, it ruins the whole movie. I recommend selling the "filtered" version so that kids can watch it. I wanted my children to learn from the values of the movie, yet had to cut it off when the vulger language started rolling.
I would buy the "filtered" version that came out several years back, but do not recommend purchasing this one. May 8, 2008

 Teacher Reviewed
So, this is a movie that is a little corny and you might just cry in the end. But, that's okay because we all need a little of that in our lives! There is so much here in this movie. There is redemption, second chances, childhood pain. But, from a teacher's standpoint, it has a tremendous message about school violence. From the beginning, with the metal detectors and the bullying, it makes you think about the school atmospheres many of our students face on a daily basis. It made me want to do a better job and make my prescence on earth a little more worthwhile. Wish I could show it to my students, but the adult themes would be a little much. March 29, 2008

 Terrific movie!
Another terrific movie; very heart wrenching. Everyone should watch this and work at initiating a "Pay It Forward." The world would definitely be a better place. This one is highly recommended by me! :) March 12, 2008

 Wishing for edited version!
As a 7th grade educator, I would LOVE to be able to show this wonderfully motivating and thoughtful movie to my classes, furthering our discussions of doing nice things for others and remembering how important each and every one of us in the grand scheme of life.

I long for an edited version of this movie, as we are unable to show any movie rated over PG. The sex scene, Helen Hunt in her blue bra and a few others could have easily been avoided, in my opinion, and reached a much greater audience, the age that really needs to see how we all affect each other's lives. As it is, I can only relate the ideas to my students, when what I really desire is to share the visuals that this tremendous movie provides, reminding my often self-centered students how we need to remember to reach out to the world around us.

February 27, 2008

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