Rating: 
Summary: A Pleasant Surprise: Great Acting All Around
Review: With a cast that includes Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey and doe-eyed Hayley Joel Osmet, this film really deserves a peak. Theatrically, it didn't do that well because of its downbeat ending. Regardless, this film has lots to offer. In particular, its plot about people (in this case, Haley Joel Osmet) doing things for people less fortunate than he is. Without giving too much away, this film says a lot about hope, kindless, survival, love of family and overcoming one's afflictions. Rent it. It deserves to see seen. The performances - Osmet, Spacey, Hunt - are terrific.
Rating: 
Summary: Can Anyone Really Change the World?
Review: Great movie dealing with some hard-hitting issues that are so prevalent in our society today. Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joe Osment perform wonderfully in their lead roles. This is a movie that asks the question, "Can I really change the world?" Those that change it are usually the ones that need their world to change.(Spacey) gives his middle school class an inspiring first day assignment to change the world, unsuspecting his students will take him seriously, one student (Osment) meets the challenge and devises a plan. The ending has an answer to the question.
Rating:
Summary: FIVE HANKY TEARJERKER...
Review: I found this movie to be a compelling and moving cinematic experience, with outstanding, well nuanced performances by Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment, and James Caviezel. It is a bona fide tearjerker. Those who enjoy that genre of film should love this one. The movie opens up with a hostage scene being played out in a residential neighborhood, with cops everywhere. A reporter arrives on the scene only to have the cops try and give him the bum's rush. While the cops are distracted by the reporter, the perpetrator leaves the scene in a sports utitlty vehicle, but not before crashing into and totalling the reporter's car. A mysterious stranger materializes and hands the reporter the keys to a new jaguar, saying that he is giving it to him, no strings attached, since he seems to have run into a little car trouble. The movie then cuts to a scene four months earlier. The viewer is taken to a seventh grade class room where, in a wonderful scene, student, Trevor McKinney, played by Haley Joel Osment, takes his teacher's assignment of doing something that could potentially change the world to heart. His teacher, an intelligent and controlled man, played by Kevin Spacey, whose burn scarred face masks the scars on his heart, gives out this assignment cavalierly, not really expecting that any of his students will come up with something of real note. It turns out that Trevor, intelligent and introspective, comes up with an idea whereby he performs a potentially life changing good deed for each of three people. They in turn each do the same for three people. He calls his idea "pay it forward". It is your basic pyramid scheme with a twist. Some of the things he does will tug at your heart strings. Some of them will tickle your funny bone. One thing is for sure, unless you are made of stone, you will be moved. Meanwhile Trevor's stressed out mom, played by Helen Hunt, is a single parent, holding down two jobs. An alcoholic in the throes of a recovery, she does the best that she can. Split from Trevor's dad, himself an alcoholic who used to batter her, she is struggling to keep on even keel. When Trevor's execution of his teacher's assignment results in what appears to be a potentially life threatening situation, it causes his mom to hit the roof and go to the school, where she confronts the baffled teacher. Ultimately, Trevor's mom and his teacher are brought together, through the contrivance of Trevor. What initially seemed impossible, becomes a reality, and a relationship blossoms. It turns out that they have more in common than was initially thought. Meanwhile, Trevor's plan is catching on, and a number of wonderful scenes in the film illustrate this. What happens in this film will, at times, thrill and delight you. At other times, what happens will surely move you to tears. Some may call the movie manipulative and schmaltzy. It is simply just an old fashioned tearjerker.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Movie I have seen!
Review: This movie was great. I am 15 years old, and I like action, mystery, and sci-fi. But when I rented this, I found that this movie was so great. The actors are great, and they fit the roles perfectly. The plot was interesting, with the whole motive to make the world a better place. The idea, no matter how simplistic, shaped this movie into a complex, yet fun movie to watch. Haley Joe Osmand is great, he fits the character perfectly since I have always thought of him as a bit odd, and I guess it is since his pervios acting roles, such as the Sixth Sense. But, unlike the sixth sense, he was totally different, and I believe he will be great in the future, not to say he isn't great now. Helen Hunt was also great, lately, she hasn't done much, but she is emmotionally great in this film, and all the other characters were great. Basically, this was a great film to watch. I chose it because I thought it would be interesting, and I chose to rent it when there was nothing else, but I was totally mistaken when I saw it. It was so... well, you will just have to see it.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't give it 0 stars
Review: I can't really say it better than the previous review who called it manipulative and sanctimonious, but I want to reinforce that characterization. This is tripe of the rankest order. I watched the movie because I had read an excerpt of the book, and it seemed sincere and goofy, and I was in the mood for some sincere goofiness one day. But this movie is bloodlessly cynical and manipulative. Why Hunt and Spacey did it is beyond me, but Henry Fonda made "The Mad Miss Manton", so...
Rating:
Summary: Buy this and you really will "pay" for it!
Review: I rented this thinking I was in for a emotional, meaningful, and possibly fun movie. I was not completely expecting the depressing, heavy handed, ironic mess that it is. With the front cover of the movie, I had my doubts (which by the way depicts a level of happiness and satisfaction that you will never reach watching this). I should have also considered that it was also a vehicle for Spacey, Hunt, and Osment, which should have said something to me. It also had the same director as Deep Impact, which was one of the most depressing and cold money makers to come out in a while. Well now you know what is going on here - a movie, that early on, demolishes any potential it may have had and draws an audience on Osment's cuteness, Spacey's reputation, and Hunt's ongoing winning streak that began with "Good as it gets". It was sold in the trailer as a funny, heartfelt family film and ended up being the exact opposite. It reminds me of how "Swimming with Sharks" (another Spacey film) was billed as a "hilarious" comedy and was even placed in the comedy section at the video store. It turned out to be a twisted, dark, and massively unfunny film that only ex exec assistants might find slightly humorous. The tagline for "Pay it" was "Sometimes the simplest idea can make the biggest difference" - Well, sometimes the simplest selection at the video store can ruin your whole night! - If you don't believe you have wasted your money by the middle of the film, you will when it comes to it's dreadful and unnescessary ending. A real bummer...in every possible meaning of the word. Try anything else.
Rating:
Summary: Hollywood screws up what could of been something special
Review: What could of been a great movie, ended up being the usual Hollywood quest for green. Let's take a great story and throw in 3 very talented and respected actors and have them play the same exact roles that made them great. This is what this movie boils down to and I just couldn't and wouldn't see past it. This movie could have been something really special, but instead, artistic integrity was traded in for what supposedly "makes the world go around". What a shame.
Rating:
Summary: Good performances in a lousy screenplay.
Review: There were some excellent performances by Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment and some very good scenes. Unfortunately the screenplay took too many wrong turns and the ending did not work at all. I think a good movie earns its ending, and this one did not do that. There were enough good individual scenes (especially between Hunt and Spacey) to make it worth 2.5 stars, but I don't have that option, so I rounded it up. I'm just a generous guy.
Rating:
Summary: A deliberate act of kindness-
Review: We've all heard the expression, 'practice random acts of kindness', but as with ripples on a pond, these sometimes just fizzle out and go nowhere. The concept of 'Pay It Forward' is a revolutionary one that involves us in deliberate acts of kindness on a person to person basis. We actually have to engage with each other in a meaningful way. The movie points out that even though things don't necessarily go the way we plan, they DO have an impact. The so called 'sad ending' is an example of this. It leaves us a little uncomfortable so that we have to think about what a deliberate act of kindness might mean in terms of self-sacrifice and reward. I am a person who enjoys giving and doing for others unconditionally, but this sometimes makes the receivers uncomfortable as they think they have nothing to give in return. With 'Pay It Forward' that problem no longer exists. When the time is right for them, they can 'Pay It Forward'. I think the so called professional critics who gave this movie a poor rating didn't see the same movie I saw.
Rating:
Summary: Two hours of your life you will regret not having back
Review: If you are the type of movie goer that enjoys films with an unpredictable plot and a script free of sanctimonius garbage do not i repeat DO NOT watch his film. This may be the most manipulative piece of cinematic [stuff] ever to grace the screen. About 10 minutes into the film it will be clear that nothing is without a set up and no emotion comes without beating the viewer over the head with a ton of bricks. This is a film where one, two, even four major problems is not enough for a character...they must have more, enough to make you feel complete [regret] for ever living a happy exsistance. I don't understand why this film had the talented cast it did. I don't know how they delievered their lines without wanting to strangle the writer of this pure sanctimonius garbage. And to top it all off, the ending is so cruel, so over the top, so downright uneccesary and offensive it required all of my might not to toss the remote at the TV in disgust. If you appreciate fine film, stay far, far away.
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