Based on a
best-selling novel by Catherine
Ryan Hyde and boasting the star
power of two Oscar winners and a
young
nominee--Kevin Spacey, Helen
Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment--PAY
IT FORWARD spins a heartwarming
yarn about an 11-year-old boy
who comes up with an utopian
idea as a project for school.
History teacher Eugene Simenot (Spacey)
offers the same ongoing
extra-credit assignment he has
proffered every year: Come up
with an idea that will change
the world. However, he expects
nothing more from his students
than halfhearted efforts that
fall far shy of their mark.
Simenot is therefore unprepared
for precocious, irrepressible
Trevor McKinney (played with
wide-eyed wonder by Osment), who
conjures up a stunning scheme.
Trevor suggests the concept that
every person who benefits from
someone else's good deed should
"pay it forward," instead of
paying it back, and in turn
offer favors to three other
people. The first guinea pig for
Trevor's experiment is his
overworked, imperfect mom (Helen
Hunt) for whom he tries to find
a boyfriend. Director Mimi Leder,
best known for such powerful
thrillers as DEEP IMPACT, imbues
the solid script of PAY IT
FORWARD with a more grandiose
aura. However, it is the movie's
triumvirate of heralded stars--Spacey,
Hunt, and Osment--that propels
this compelling yarn. |