Pay It Forward (2000)

A young boy attempts to make the world a better place after his teacher gives him that chance.

Director:

Mimi Leder

Writers:

Catherine Ryan Hyde (book), Leslie Dixon (screenplay)

Stars:

Kevin Spacey, Haley Joel Osment, Helen Hunt

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Spacey	...	Eugene Simonet
Helen Hunt	...	Arlene McKinney
Haley Joel Osment	...	Trevor McKinney
Jay Mohr	...	Chris Chandler
Jim Caviezel	...	Jerry (as James Caviezel)
Jon Bon Jovi	...	Ricky McKinney
Angie Dickinson	...	Grace
David Ramsey	...	Sidney Parker
Gary Werntz	...	Mr. Thorsen
Colleen Flynn	...	Woman on Bridge
Marc Donato	...	Adam
Kathleen Wilhoite	...	Bonnie
Liza Snyder	...	Michelle
Jeannetta Arnette	...	Nurse
Hannah Leder	...	Thorsen's Daughter (as Hannah Werntz)

Storyline

Young Trevor McKinney, troubled by his mother's alcoholism and fears of his abusive but absent father, is caught up by an intriguing assignment from his new social studies teacher, Mr. Simonet. The assignment: think of something to change the world and put it into action. Trevor conjures the notion of paying a favor not back, but forward--repaying good deeds not with payback, but with new good deeds done to three new people. Trevor's efforts to make good on his idea bring a revolution not only in the lives of himself, his mother and his physically and emotionally scarred teacher, but in those of an ever-widening circle of people completely unknown to him.

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Plot Keywords:

social studies | teacher | boy | good deed | alcoholism | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes The Simplest Idea Can Make The Biggest Difference.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements including substance abuse/recovery, some sexual situations, language and brief violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

At one moment, a poster on the wall in Trevor's bedroom can be seen. It displays Goldberg, a famous professional wrestler, at the time wrestling in WCW.

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Goofs

During the interview at the end, the camerawoman suddenly changes from the left side to the right side of the camera.

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Quotes

Arley: Sit down, I want to talk to you.
Trevor McKenney: You want to lie to me.

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Connections

Referenced in Straight Up (2019)

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Soundtracks

Behind Every Good Woman
Written and Performedy by Tracy Bonham

User Reviews

Not for the stonehearted.

Pay It Forward is a movie that is aimed at one particular audience. The kind of audience that expects to have their life changed as the minutes tick by.

And as a film that provides profound, poignant and tear-jerking moments, Pay It Forward will be perfect for this manner of audience. Unfortunately, harder, more expecting movie-goers will probably dismiss this movie as an oversentimental and perhaps unrealistic film.

The film is centred around Trevor (Hayley Joel-Osment). An 11 year old boy, living alone with his dysfunctional, on-off alcoholic mother Arlene (Helen Hunt). One day Trevor is set a homework assignment by his new Social Studies teacher, the mysterious, slightly disfigured Eugene (Kevin Spacey). Eugene sets the class a difficult task; to think of an idea that will change the world and put it into action. Et voila!! Pay It Forward is born.

Trevor is played with an endearing maturity and at times, unstable frustration by uber kid actor Osment. As an aspiring actor, I worry that an 11 year old boy can grab hold of such difficult roles and make them his, while I still strive to gain my Equity card!! What Osment promised in The Sixth Sense, he shows again here with a more difficult and emotionally charged role. Trevor is a boy not altogether happy with his life. He is lacking in a father figure, his Mother struggles to have any impact on him as she juggles two jobs to make ends meet, which leaves Trevor with nothing but his own intuition to drag him through life. For a child that can only be extatic and contented with HIS life, Osment does well to project such a fragile character on screen.

Eugene is a character made for Kevin Spacey (although all his roles seem perfect for him). Intelligent, compassionate, slightly bitter and at times unpredictable, Eugene is a man that we, as an audience cannot help but engage with. The dialogue written for Spacey is much better than other characters in the film, and he puts it to good use. Spacey is at his best when doing two things; calmly and charismatically attracting attention to himself (Ordinary Decent Criminal, Midnight In The Garden Of...), and when he bubbles just below the surface, inviting audiences in so that he can devastate you with a single revelation (Seven, Usual Suspects, Swimming With Sharks). And his revelation in this film (he relives how he came to get his horrific scars), is so vivid, so intricately and harrowingly retold that you cannot help but feel a tear well up in your eye.

Helen Hunt is fantastic as Arlene. Managing to achieve a look that bizarrely mixes trailer trash, run down alcoholic with vulnerable cuteness. She doesn't get the pick of the dialogue however, and the role aswell as the whole film would have been a whole lot worse off had Hunt not been on top form. You don't want her to be your Mother, but you really want to see her happy and for her to do a good job at being Trevors.

The film falls short in little details. Supporting characters do little to affect the story (Jay Mohr as an almost non-speaking narrator??) and the whole thing feels flat if Spacey is off screen too long. Good actors like Jim Caviezel go almost unnoticed and you can't help but feel that a few more juicy characters would help the story become a little more...cohesive.

The ending is a reinforcement of the atmosphere of the whole film. It is a sequence that heightens our emotion and should set the tears rolling.

In short, see this film for three things; Haley Joel-Osment, Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt. All three are fantastic, and it's obvious to see why so much Oscar gossip was being spread.

If you like heart warming films with a little bit of edge, then watch on. If you're expecting an original, exciting, twisty or philosophical film...watch it anyway, at least the three leads are good.

Details

Official Sites:

-Making-of Warner Bros. (US)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 October 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pay It Forward

Filming Locations:

Coronado High School, 1001 Coronado Center Dr, Henderson, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,631,359, 22 October 2000

Gross USA:

$33,519,628

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$55,707,411

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Bel Air Entertainment, Tapestry Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1