Pay It Forward (DVD)

...first heard of the movie Pay It Forward through an interview with my favourite music group, the Backstreet Boys. My favourite member Brian has mentioned a few times in interviews that this was at least one of his favourite movies and otherwise, I hadn't heard of it. It came out in 2000 but I don't remember hearing anything about it on TV at the time (maybe I was busy then, I don't know) and so I guess it sort of slipped under my radar. Anyway, I ...
...main acting cast) - Pay it Forward is mainly about one young boy by the name of Trevor McKinney (played by Haley Joel Osment, probably best known for his role next to Bruce Willis in the late 90s supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense), who struggles to cope with his family situation, as his father is a drunk and abusive man who has left home (he's played briefly by Jon Bon Jovi) and his mother (played by Helen Hunt) also has a drinking problem and ...

IzzyS 30.12.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

...turn to Trevor, they should pay it forward – and in turn they should do three good turns for other people. And so Trevor’s plan slowly gets onto its feet. Despite his disillusionment when it seems that two out of the three good turns he has performed have not come to fruition, his plan is working – and with it, people’s lives are changing beyond all recognition. Four months on, and Chris Chandler is busy trying to trace the origins of the remarkable ...
...lives. The story behind Pay It Forward is an amazing one in itself, but as well as the main plot we have a romance to keep us interested, Arlene’s battle with drink (and its effects on Trevor), the bullying of Trevor’s classmate Adam, the return of Trevor’s absent father and the story behind Mr. Simonet’s facial scars to keep us entertained. It is difficult to reveal more about the story without giving too much away. I actually felt that knowing ...

Pumpkin 14.06.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

...whole world. Pay It Forward is a stark, moving and thoroughly intelligent exploration of the human soul, it examines our capacity to love and hate and it builds a central relationship that is both moving and significant. It is an epic drama that -within its small production- manages to say something about society and glimmers with humanity, a kind of more accessible Monster Ball. It is filled with vividly realized characters -especially Trevor's ...
...the best working actors today. Pay It Forward struggles to have a happy ending which is tinged with a deep emotional core, you will want to invest emotionally into the film and you will be paid back with well observed situations, characters with wonderful back stories and three stunning lead performances. I think that Helen Hunt is one of the best actresses at the moment, she perfectly embodies Arlene McKinney and makes her characters redemption ...

JayHall1991 25.07.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

...goes. The film is, Pay it forward. This film seems to have slipped through my net as it was released in early 2000. I was perusing some new releases in WH Smiths, and I had Twenty pounds worth of vouchers I had received for my birthday. They had a special deal on where you can buy three DVDs for twenty pounds. I choose two but had difficulty choosing the third. My wife brought this film to my attention. Starring Kevin Spacey who I really like, I ...
...an idea that rather than pay back favours or deeds that have been done for you, you give a favour first for no apparent reason. This can be with strangers or people you know already. Apart from the other two people he chooses, he picks his Mother, who is a recovering alcoholic. (I am not giving anything away here as this is very apparent from the beginning.). Kevin Spacey also has problems from his past and as the story unfolds it is about Arlene ...

milleniumzeus 08.02.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

...idea is that rather than pay it back, they pay it forward to three other people. That way it will spread and lots of people will be doing good for each other and the world will be a better place. For most of the film, we follow two strands. One is Trevor's attempts to do good turns for people including trying to set up his mother with Mr Simonet. The other is the journalist from the beginning tracking back through the people who have paid it forward ...
...by helping other people. The Pay It Forward system has massive repercussions transforming the lives of, amongst others, his alcoholic mother (Helen Hunt), struggling to support and raise her son, and his teacher, as they are forced to deal with their painful pasts. Their cult is both devastating and heart warming." Other Information ============== Director: Mimi Leder Theme: Emotional Drama Classification: "12" Length: 119 minutes My thoughts ...

susancarter 04.04.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

...front. I chose to watch Pay It Forward, partly because I am a big fan of all the main stars, Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osmant, and partly because it is based in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, I didn't get around to choosing it earlier because about twenty minutes from the end of the movie the flight attendant anounced that we where preparing our descent and all the TV monitors went off. So, last night, when I saw Pay It Forward in Blockbuster ...
...touch to explain (about the Pay It Forward) Next we cut to four months earlier. The movie as everyone know's by now is about a little kid who's disfigured teacher gives the class and assignment to "Do something to change the world". Trevor (Osmant) decides to help a bum by taking him home and feeding him and giving him all his savings to buy some decent clothes so he can get a job. His only condition is that Jerry (the bum) must pay this favour ...

buzzz 21.08.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

...place - the concept of Pay It Forward is reminiscent of a Multi-level Marketing scheme for goodwill. And dammit why should they have to apologise for pointing out a few home truths. The secret to a better world lies in our attitudes and our actions - sure its easy to shrug and say its all crap because it'll never happen - it's utopian (as though that is a bad thing!!!!)... I throw down the challenge - don't worry about whether everyone else will ...
...you can to improve the lot of someone else - don't expect favours in return, don't expect to feel good about it, don't expect to be appreciated or even noticed - just do it because you know it is the decent thing to do... and be content with what transpires... The film is simply made - it does not proclaim itself as an innovation in film-making - it simply says here's an idea to consider... and for that it has been soundly thrashed by world-weary ...

kimbowa 03.03.2001 (04.03.2001) · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

This is one of those movies that is both enjoyable to watch and can prompt you onto better things, if you hear the message. When a young reporter, whose vehicle has been damaged, is given the keys to a Jaguar by a man who walks away only with the admonishment to "pay it forward", he sets out to follow the trail of the concept back to find out where it began ... Trevor (Haley Joel Osment) is a serious child, a product of an abusive double-alcoholic ...
...dreaded bottle and hoping his absent father will not return. When a new teacher (Kevin Spacey) sets his social studies class an assignment to go out and do something - "Think of an idea to change our world - and put it into ACTION." - little does he know how one of his pupils will take his words to heart ... nor how it will affect his own existence. Trevor's mother is excellently characterized by Helen Hunt as recovering alcoholic, Arlene. A single-mother ...

poet831 03.07.2001 (06.07.2001) · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

Did Pay It Forward (PIF) bypass you when it was released in the cinema? It did me. I saw a few trailers and thought ‘Hmm, Kevin Spacey’ but pretty much forgot it and as far as I can remember, there wasn’t a lot of hype surrounding it. But I can tell you now that this is a wonderful, wonderful film. Whenever I was in Blockbuster, PIF was the only film that had all the rental copies still stacked up behind it. So I thought that if ...
...each person is expected to Pay it Forward for three other people – you can never pay back, only forward. Trevor’s teacher, Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey), is inspired by Trevor’s idea. Little does he know that Favour Two is for him, whereby Trevor gives him a note ‘from his mother’ in order to set them up. Though troubled at first, Eugene and Arlene soon form a friendship only for it to flounder when the two become close. ...

jess0910 08.10.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

...three questions. But, after watching Pay It Forward it changes my views on those questions and most importantly my views on life… It stars Kevin Spacey – L.A Story, American Beauty; Haley Joel Smith – Sixth Sense, A.I: Artificial Intelligence; Helen Hunt – As Good As It Gets and the Comedy Series Mad About You. All three create atmosphere in the film. It is rather odd because it isn’t a film that all of a sudden lets ...
...in the film, but in Pay It Forward it doesn’t do this; it keeps you guessing to the end. It revolves around Trevor – a little boy who lives in Las Vegas. His Mother - Arlene - is an alcoholic and is trying so hard to stop drinking to help her little boy. On the first day back at school – Trevor is now in seventh grade – there’s a new teacher waiting for him in his class - Mr Eugene Simonet. Mr Simonet isn’t a ...

Mattroberts 09.02.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

...and expertly made up. Pay It Forward is not the happy feel good movie I thought I was going to see. It is a complex and sometimes dark tale tackling issues like suicide, substance abuse and domestic violence. The stories contained within it unfold beautifully, with two main story tracks running in contrasting chronological order adding to the suspense factor within the film. Perhaps the biggest downside for me was the pointless, characterless contribution ...
...to encounter people aiming to Pay It Forward in the same way that people practice random acts of kindness. However, it has to be said that no such do-gooding occured! The central theme of the film appeals to my idealistic side, but there is plenty to keep the romantic, confused, wounded and cynical parts of my personality entertained to. On release the film was touted as an Oscar contender, but it's not anything new and whilst the acting is good ...

gollygumdrops 02.07.2001 (03.07.2001) · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

...think...COULD THIS REALLY WORK? Pay it Forward is a sensitive film about an 11 year old boy who's teacher sets the class the task of working out an idea that might change the world. Starring the beautiful Helen Hunt, the gorgeous Kevin Spacey, the frighteningly talented Haley Joel Osment (child star from The 6th Sense)and rock star turned actor Jon Bon Jovi. The boy (Osment) has the idea of helping 3 people in need? In return each of them then ...
...3 more and so on. It's a kind of downward pyramid of goodness, spreading all across the state, country and world. His alcoholic single mother (played brilliantly by Hunt) meets his teacher (Spacey) who has deep rooted problems and a history that has resulted in much of his face and body being badly scarred from burning. And so the story unfolds. Little do they realise the boy's idea is already spreading, a tramp he helped goes on to save a woman ...

mrsandrewsjk 31.05.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

...reporter tracking the story of Pay It Forward four months after the above idea was formulated. This part of the story is kinda hard to follow as the plot with Eugene, Trevor and Arlene is happening 4 months previously to our intrepid reporter discovering the phenonmenon. "Pay It Forward" is gorgeous to watch, exquisitly acted and beautifully crafted. The idea is inspiring and just imagine what the world would be like if we all adopted it. I will ...

minxette 26.03.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

After seeing Haley Joel Osment's earlier film, "The Sixth Sense", I was most pleased to be notified through the internet last October of the then just-released book with this young actor in it. I duly purchased the book, and read it every day, until I finished it. I found the book quite slow at first, but then became deeply engrossed in it. I must say, though, that at first I couldn't determine which of the characters was portrayed by Kevin Spacey ...
...Spacey) was a black Vietnam war veteran, whose face had been disfigured whilst helping a comrade. On with the film: as soon as it was released in Harrow, Middlesex last Sunday, I just had to see it. The book had been charged with so much emotion, that many a time I was close to tears whilst travelling to work on the London Underground. The race of the hero, and the history of his facial injuries were just the start of the differences to the original ...

Luigi 25.01.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)

A man in the wrong place at the wrong time. Classical opening to the movie. His car is crushed simply because of his timing, and a stranger gives him the key to a Jaguar. The atmosphere is one of mystery, one that makes you think you are about to be taken on a journey of imagination. Take a small boy, give him an idea to work on, and the possibilities are endless. In this case, Trevor McKinney (the child played by Haley Joel Osment) is probably ...
...across with sincerity as a small boy wishing to make the world a better place to live in. In a project started by his teacher (played by Kevin Spacey), Trevor comes up with a simple notion that if he were to do good things for three people, and then those three people did good things for three, so the world would become a better place to live in. I can see the simplicity of the idea, although throughout the film, an irritation set in, in that the ...

thingywhatsit 16.12.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Pay It Forward (DVD)