The Bottom Line: Pay It Forward is a pretty bad movie that mistakes it's manipulations for insights, and it character's banality for dimension. Avoid it
THIS REVIEW DISCUSSES EVERY ASPECT OF THE FILM AND MAY SPOIL THE FILM IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT.
One could say that I went into this movie knowing I was gonna hate it. And that is partly true. I don't care for manipulative movies that use kids to make audiences cry and good actors "dumb down" for a chance to be something that they would never be, even were they not celebrities. It's trite, unconvincing, and insulting.
So why then did I watch Pay It Forward? Let me explain.
Lazyness. Pure and simple. There was nothing else on.
The basic plot is that Haley Joel Osment as Trevor is sick of his drunk a** mom, Arlene (Helen Hunt), and when his new teacher, Mr. Simonet (Kevin Spacey),gives him an off-handed assignment to change the world, he invents Pay It Forward to change not only his world but the whole world because, little kids from broken homes aren't really miserable and still think about everyone else because good people never think about just their own problems, even if that would be justified. Pay It Forward is the idea that you do something nice, something huge and life-altering, for 3 people and they each, in turn, do the same for three more people and it spreads.
The problem with the film is two-fold. One, it breaks two cardinal rules, (1) never have beautiful people play "average", especially if they are movie stars, if you want your characters to be credible. This is a rule because of the cult of celebrity. Folks don't wanna see their idols like them, that is why they are celebrities. No matter how good a superstar actor is, their baggage comes with them. It is sad, but something that is unfortunately the case. Ask Brad Pitt, an actor capable of the kind of transformations Philip Seymour Hoffman or Billy Crudup easily do and get praised for? Ask Julia Roberts. She got the Oscar because she's Julia Roberts (that's not to say her performance wasn't magnificent, but was it believable? ...did you once not think Julia's got great breasts, not Erin, but Julia) (2) never shield your protagonist from consequences (we'll get to this when I discuss Osment's character).
The second problem with the film is that the film is scripted with mountains of doubt. The screenwriter didn't believe enough in the idea of Pay It Forward herself. I have mixed feelings about the setup/payoff for them. Osment's 3 deeds don't amount to much. His first is for Jim Caviesel's character, a junkie, and it is considered a bust until later in the film when Caviesel is suddenly remembered to be in the cast (how's that for 5th billing...call your agent, dogg). The second is not entirely altruistic. He sets up Mr. Simonet with his mother. It is not entirely clear which he thinks needs more help. I got the impression that he was doing it more for his mother. It too doesn't quite pan out. And lastly, he tries to help a kid in school but can't. But when he finally does it is only so the ending can be bittersweet and the audience whips out the hankie.
Before I go on, let me say that I ended up liking the film more than I thought I would. It is earnest more often then sickeningly sweet and maudlin...which is a true accomplishment.
Kevin Spacey is a great actor. Let it be stated. But he too frequently seems to be outside of things in his performances. In most of his scenes with Osment, he seems to be marveling at the latter's amazing skills. It can be argued that Simonet marvels over Trevor's altruism, but that is not really the case, except in the scene where Trevor explains Pay It Forward. You get the impression that Spacey isn't acting, because he knows this is Osment's show. He acquiesces. It’s depressing. He just falls back on that wit and stagy line readings that got him through non-character intensive films like Glengarry Glen Ross and Swimming with Sharks. However, his scenes with Helen Hunt are superb and his third act revelation, although terrible and reeking of contrived silliness, is utterly convincing in his portrayal. It's really a waste and from Spacey's performance, he was well aware of it.
Helen Hunt is not terrible. She suffers from the cult of celebrity I was talking about before. In As Good As It Gets she played working class and well, but here she is supposed to be trailer trash (and only because she actually says that to Spacey's character...as if people refer to themselves so linearly...we aren't that self-aware a culture yet...damn you Kevin Williamson). It doesn't work. She is too polished and too pretty...all the things that we don't associate with trailer trash. Never mind that it is entirely possible, but in order for our assumptions to stay in tact and the world to not implode, we need for films to uphold these ideals. Celebrities slumming are not it. Her performance isn't bad, but her credibility as a drunk is. It isn't even remotely believable. She hits her son and runs for the bottle? She stashes bottles and comes in from work and drinks. Actually, it is entirely believable, but the way it is rendered and played is so silly and almost offhanded, that it is nearly offensive. I'm not saying alcoholism has to be dirty, but Hunt's character is an alcoholic only because the script calls for it. Hunt is a phenomenal actress, but her character is ridiculous and even Meryl Streep couldn't have redeemed her.
And then we have that little jewel. Goes by the name Haley Joel Osment. It is an understatement to say he is the best thing about this mess. Osment, though, has the distinct pleasure of inhabiting the fullest, roundest character in the film, so he had help. Trevor is a normal kid, he isn't super. Pay It Forward comes out of a genuine need (except the one for his mother/Mr. Simonet, which I stated above isn't really altruistic) to change life. Osment's character breaks the second cardinal rule because Trevor was never in any real danger. The alcoholic mother thing is just that...an afterthought. Bon Jovi, as his father, is only seen for a couple of scenes and instead of showing how menacing that character can become, they settle for just talking about it. It is a credit to Bon Jovi that the character isn't a complete joke. But since Trevor is so altruistic, it doesn't matter, because it was never about him, right? Wrong. If the film had been honest about Trevor's real desire to change his own life, it could have been much more profound. Pay It Forward is really an extension of Trevor's need for stability. That it isn't entirely altruistic isn't bad, but that the film paints him as such in the third act is.
All the supporting performances are pretty good. Jay Mohr is quite good, but then isn't he always? Jon Bon Jovi, in his three scenes, is entirely convincing (but then musicians and alcoholism...am I over generalizing? Well yes, but so does the film). Jim Caviesel is wasted on a half-baked character that could have been much more pivotal.
What I really didn't like was the end. It is where everything I've talked about comes to a head and explodes. Simonet's father setting him on fire? OVER THE TOP. So completely unnecessary and it undercuts the subtlety that the film was going for. Is it possible, does it happen? Yes, but in this character it is just a lame excuse to keep Hunt and Spacey apart long enough to kill Trevor. Just mean. Killing Trevor was just ridiculous. He didn't need to be a martyr. He wasn't a martyr. Like I said, he wasn't entirely altruistic. If the film had been more honest about the realism of the setups of these characters and played it out as such, the film could have been wonderfully ironic. Imagine a poor neglected kid tries to save his mom and dies for it. Sounds great huh? As opposed to poor neglected kid somehow cares for everyone else and dies for it. Which sounds more cliché? But the problem is that Trevor's motivation is naturally murky, he's a kid. And had that been understood and respected then maybe the killing of him could have been more digestible (ultimately no matter how it is scripted, killing your protagonist to lament the state of our society is tired and melodramatic). The third act does the entire film an injustice in its need to tie up all the strings. Trevor never really got to see his mother get with Mr. Simonet finally, so what made him help the kid a second time. Altruism? Nope, we've already established that he isn't altruistic (and again, that is okay). Well we needed payoff for the knife in the first act and well, the writer wants to kill Haley Joel Osment so all the women and romantics can cry and feel better about connecting with such a selfless character and do nothing in their life to change the world when they walk out of the theater.
Am I being too hard? Perhaps, but it really angers me when good actors are wasted on lazy and cliché writing. The film is not terrible, but it is manipulative and insulting. It posits that people like Trevor die because the world sucks. Tell me something new.
Everything in social studies teacher Eugene Simonet s (Kevin Spacey) life is in order--every shirt, every pencil, every person in its proper place. To...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.