Pay It Forward [2001]

On the DVD: Extras include a commentary from Leder, and a 13-minute "making-of" documentary that includes cast and director interviews. None of it, though, tells us much we couldn't have gathered from the movie. The clean widescreen (1.85:1) print and the Dolby 5.1 sound deliver on quality, and come fully into their own in the all-out bravura finale--shameless tear-jerking on a grand scale. --Philip Kemp

I can honestly say that this film is one of the best I've seen (and I've seen a lot) and I would rate it in my top three. The story is well written and the three main characters are acted beautifully by Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment. It is the story of Trevor Mckinney who comes up with idea of paying it forward for a social studies class. Instead of paying back a person who has done something for you, you pay it forward to three other people who do the same for three others, therefore the "movement" spreads. The ways in which this idea affects those around it is very moving, trust me, the tissues will be needed.

Buy this film, you will not regret it.


It's pay forward time!   February 29, 2004
C. R. Williams (UK)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

This movie expresses how one soul can touch the masses.

This concept is inspirational! It defines belief, faith and the true spirit of human nature.

Watch it and weep!


A Lesson for All Viewers   March 23, 2006
Joan Di (United States)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Pay It Forward is one of the most inspirational movies I have ever seen. The most inspiring characteristics of this movie is the actions of one child making a difference in so many lives. Everyone complains about life, but no one really does anything to change it. In "Pay It Forward" you see that one person can really make a difference, not in just one life, but many lives without ever knowing that person. Hayley Joel Osment is an extraordinary actor with such tremendous vision in his role in this movie. Kevin Spacey, gives one of the best performances of his career as the teacher trying to overcome his own insecurities. And Helen Hunt gives a compelling performance in the movie as well.

I think that classrooms around the globe should have students watch "Pay It Forward" to enlighten youngsters to truly make a difference. You never know the true genius that our own children have inside them.


See it - it's better than you might be led to believe!   February 9, 2002
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Many reviews accuse this film of being emotionally manipulative. Which films aren't?.Whilst it skates very close to what might be described as sentimentality its own special qualities save it from falling into the swamp. Chief among these is the quality of the acting of the three leads.
The ending appears to cause some critics particular difficulty and I have noticed that their reaction to it is sometimes quite emotional considering their criticism of the manipulative 'sentimentality' of the film. I wonder whether this indicates a greater emotional impact than they would care to admit? Possibly a genuine grief reaction? I was certainly taken by surprise by the power of my own reaction, which I can only put down to a tremendous screen 'presence' built up throughout the movie.


FIVE HANKY TEARJERKER...   November 18, 2002
Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

I found this movie to be a compelling and moving cinematic experience, with outstanding, well nuanced performances by Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment, and James Caviezel. It is a bona fide tearjerker. Those who enjoy that genre of film should love this one.

The movie opens up with a hostage scene being played out in a residential neighborhood, with cops everywhere. A reporter arrives on the scene only to have the cops try and give him the bum's rush. While the cops are distracted by the reporter, the perpetrator leaves the scene in a sports utitlty vehicle, but not before crashing into and totalling the reporter's car. A mysterious stranger materializes and hands the reporter the keys to a new jaguar, saying that he is giving it to him, no strings attached, since he seems to have run into a little car trouble.

The movie then cuts to a scene four months earlier. The viewer is taken to a seventh grade class room where, in a wonderful scene, student, Trevor McKinney, played by Haley Joel Osment, takes his teacher's assignment of doing something that could potentially change the world to heart. His teacher, an intelligent and controlled man, played by Kevin Spacey, whose burn scarred face masks the scars on his heart, gives out this assignment cavalierly, not really expecting that any of his students will come up with something of real note.

It turns out that Trevor, intelligent and introspective, comes up with an idea whereby he performs a potentially life changing good deed for each of three people. They in turn each do the same for three people. He calls his idea "pay it forward". It is your basic pyramid scheme with a twist. Some of the things he does will tug at your heart strings. Some of them will tickle your funny bone. One thing is for sure, unless you are made of stone, you will be moved.

Meanwhile Trevor's stressed out mom, played by Helen Hunt, is a single parent, holding down two jobs. An alcoholic in the throes of a recovery, she does the best that she can. Split from Trevor's dad, himself an alcoholic who used to batter her, she is struggling to keep on even keel. When Trevor's execution of his teacher's assignment results in what appears to be a potentially life threatening situation, it causes his mom to hit the roof and go to the school, where she confronts the baffled teacher.

Ultimately, Trevor's mom and his teacher are brought together, through the contrivance of Trevor. What initially seemed impossible, becomes a reality, and a relationship blossoms. It turns out that they have more in common than was initially thought. Meanwhile, Trevor's plan is catching on, and a number of wonderful scenes in the film illustrate this.

What happens in this film will, at times, thrill and delight you. At other times, what happens will surely move you to tears. Some may call the movie manipulative and schmaltzy. It is simply just an old fashioned tearjerker.