Pay It Forward

With Pay It Forward, Osment not only makes good on his promise, but he also proves that he's not a one trick pony. He's the real deal, and so are Oscar winners Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt. It's just the story that falters, especially when compared to the ones that gave these extremely talented actors their kudos in the first place. On the other hand, if you're the type of emotionally sensitive moviegoer who goes all out for films that are saturated with sentimental schmaltziness, then this one is for you.

For 11-year-old Trevor (Haley Joel Osment), living in Las Vegas is anything but a jackpot. He hasn't seen his dad in months, and his mother (Helen Hunt) is an alcoholic who has to work two odd jobs just to make ends meet. Just when Trevor's outlook on the world couldn't get any worse, his physically-scarred social studies teacher (Kevin Spacey) gives him an unusual assignment--to come up with a plan to "change the world." Trevor starts the "pay it forward" movement, which means that he will do a favor for three people, and in return, each of them will have to do a favor for three more people (and so on, and so on, and so on). The problem is, if it can't work for his teacher or his own mother, how can it work for the rest of the world?

On the surface, everything about Pay It Forward has Oscar written all over it. Even beyond the caliber of the talent involved, how can anyone resist a film where the underlying message is to make the world a better place? With the current media hoopla surrounding violence in Hollywood movies, here's a film that actually has something good to say. Even the catchphrase "pay it forward" sounds uplifting. (I guess Osment could have used "I see deeds, people," but that doesn't sound as catchy).

After directing some of the more memorable episodes of TV's ER, Mimi Leder graduated to the big screen with The Peacemaker and Deep Impact. Neither of those films ended up being worth the popcorn they helped sell, so it makes perfect sense that Leder would go in another direction for her third time out. Pay It Forward is by far her most emotional, powerful, and character-driven film to date, and she pushes all the right buttons to make it effective and engaging.

The problem is that she pushes too many buttons, and the extraneous effort to make a meaningful film takes its toll on the script. The dialogue is weak, emotional scenes tend to go over the top with melodrama, and the progression of the story feels too contrived to solidify an air of believability (especially in the film's climax, which feels completely out of place compared with everything that preceded it). Thomas Newman's musical accompaniment complements the sensitive and tender nature of the story, even if it does feel like it was recycled from his own American Beauty score.

Speaking of American Beauty, Kevin Spacey gives yet another bravura performance as the physically and emotionally scarred Eugene. He may want to help his class, but his wounds run far too deep for him to help himself. Helen Hunt, who plays a role not unlike the one that won her an Oscar in As Good As It Gets, puts in another excellent performance as the mother who fights a daily battle just to get out of bed without taking a drink of alcohol. Of course, Haley Joel Osment gets an "A" for playing the 7th-grader who just wants to change the world, starting by fixing Hunt up with Spacey.

Considering that the cast has three Oscar wins and one Oscar nomination between them, expectations for Pay It Forward are bound to be high. The film succeeds on some levels, but it falls short on others and ends up being a mixed bag.