Paying it forward -- it's such a great idea if we could only put it into practice. Help three people with something extremely difficult and ask nothing in return but that they spread the message to three different people.
Pay It Forward - PG-13
Starring:
Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment
Directed by:
Mimi Leder
Now playing:
Showplace East 11
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It's hard to argue with that kind of message. The movie "Pay It Forward" tries to sell the idea that utopia is possible if everyone follows the Golden Rule -- and passes it on. While "pay it forward" is indestructible as a mantra, "Pay It Forward" as a movie has a few cracks in an otherwise perfect reflection.
Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment), an undersized and badly dressed seventh grader, is given an impossible assignment by his scarred social studies teacher, Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey). Trevor and his classmates must find a way to change the world. While the other pre-teens hang up recycling posters and attempt to turn the Earth's axis, Trevor invents pay it forward.
"Pay It Forward" is lucky enough to boast four Oscar nominees: Osment, Spacey, Helen Hunt, looking absolutely horrible as Osment's alcoholic mom Arlene, and "American Beauty" composer Thomas Newman. Hunt is also one of the Oscar winners, but her performance alternates between shrill and cliché. Spacey, the other Oscar winner, fares far better with an articulate portrayal of Simonet. Many of the movie's co-stars are amazingly sub-par, particularly Jon Bon Jovi, whose initial appearance drew a large burst of laughter from the crowd.
The largest crack in the "Pay It Forward" exterior comes at the movie's end. The finale is destined to draw mixed reactions. You will either give in to inner cynicism or choose optimism. If optimism is the answer; bring tissues. If cynicism, just try and tell yourself the makers of "Pay It Forward," had good, if not subtle, intentions.
