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What do you do when someone does you a favor? Instead of paying him back, Trevor Mckinney
tells you to pay it forward.
Pay It Forward stars Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense) as 7th grader Trevor McKinney, the son of an alcoholic and single mother
Arlene (Helen Hunt, What Women Want, Cast Away). Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey, American Beauty) is Trevor's unconventional Social Studies teacher who gives his
class an unexpected assignment at their first meeting: "Think of an idea to change the world and put it into action." Simonet wants his pupils not only to know current events
but also to think of making a difference in society. Trevor comes up with an idea: he will do an act of kindness to three people and instead of being paid back with gratitude,
he will ask each recipient to pay it forward to three more people. They in turn must pay another good deed to three other people, and so on. Trevor works on a homeless man,
his teacher Simonet, and his classmate Adam. Four months later, a reporter's (Jay Mohr) car crashes while on a beat and a stranger gives him his Jaguar to keep. The reporter tries to find out why anyone would do such thing and was told to simply "pay it forward."
Leslie Dixon's screenplay based on Catherine Ryan Hyde's novel is a powerful story. Director
Mimi Leder (Deep Impact) is Steven Spielberg's protégé and shows the same ability of maintaining the balance in creating realism without falling into melodrama. The
lead characters are fully developed and superbly performed. Helen Hunt enters her character as a struggling woman juggling two jobs and fighting her inner demons with such
passion. Kevin Spacey as the physically and emotionally scarred teacher is palpably vulnerable. Haley Joel Osment shows a wide range of emotional depth despite his youth. The
harsh and austere sections of Las Vegas, instead of the usual flashy casinos, provide an appropriate setting for the story.
Few movies are able to match the sterling performance of the actors with an equally compelling
message. Pay It Forward is a rare movie with a noble story of kindness, forgiveness, healing and the courage to do one's part in making this world a better place to
live in. It redefines the role of a teacher and parents, and their influence in a child's life. It also exposes a lot of issues like poverty, drugs, alcohol, violence,
domestic abuse, and many others making it unsuitable for young kids. To realistically portray the different situations, there is offensive language, theft, stabbing, a sexual
relationship between Eugene and Arlene is implied, and she is shown in skimpy outfits. But above all, Pay It Forward shows, not karma as some misguided critics
deduce, that the biblical principle "love others as you love yourself" actually pays off. This is a must see movie for teachers, parents and children 14 years old and above.
(Date reviewed: March 2, 2001)
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