Rating: 
Summary: Good - But Could Have Been Great
Review: I happened across this movie after one of my students (high school level) recommended it to me and asked whether I would have taken the actions taken by one of the film's leading characters if I found myself confronted with a similar situation.The movie starts promisingly. One is drawn into the story through curiosity as to why a total stranger would offer a $$$$$$ car to a total stranger. Through a deft combination of flachback and intercutting between story elements, we come to realize that the fledgling idea of a sixth grade student in Las Vegas eventually touch the lives of his mother, his Social Studies teacher, his homeless grandmother, a street felon, and, ultimately, his victimized best friend in school. The problem is, as other reviewers of this film have noted, the film is a maddening mixture of genuinely touching and believable scenes and infuriatingly phony exercises in emotional minipulation. Haley Joel Osment never hits a discordant note as Trevor, the empathetic and imaginative child who comes up with an idea that is both deceptively simple and yet profound. Helen Hunt is near-perfect as his alcoholic mother - forced to wor multiple (and sometimes unsavory) jobs to support her son. Kevin Spacey is, as usual, magnificent as Mr. Simonett - Trevor's Social Studies teacher - who sows the seeds of Tervor's grand scheme by asking a simple question of his students: "Come up with an idea to change the world - and put it into action." The minor characters are also uniformly good (though much of their dialogue rings incredibly false - people simply do NOT talk like this). And Jay Mohr was a miscasting that weakens the story badly. The ending is one of the most infuriating endings of any film I can recall. Needlessly maudlin (and visually a direct steal from Field of Dreams - another ending I found hard to swallow), the situation - telegraphed throughout the movie - simply is overkill of the worst sort. The story and the situation itself called for a more honed and subtly crafted lesson that evil as well as good can come from generosity. Would I recommend the film? Absolutely. Just realize that you will be manipulated shamelessly in spots, and realize that the occasional gems will require sifting through quite a lot of dross along the way.
Rating: 
Summary: What A Crying Shame!
Review: This should have been a great movie to watch with your kids. However the ending of the movie ruined it. Any inspirational thoughts or feelings you may have had were replaced by an incredible sadness. Not only that one of the first thoughts I had was, is this alcoholic Mother going to start drinking again? If you want a happy ending to this movie don't watch the last 10 minutes. Then you will feel like going out and making a difference in the world and share a beautiful message with your children.
Rating: 
Summary: A Must See
Review: This movie is touching and emotional, and incredibly sad. It gives you a lot to think about, and just gives you that warm fuzzy feeling throughout the entire film. Now please go read the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but sad
Review: Okay, this movie was great, but it has joined my list of depressing movies with no good ending. It was a good movie though and you can't help but cry at the end. I don't cry that easily, but this one got me. If you like tear-jerkers, this one's for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Awful, manipulative film with a cheat ending.
Review: Those who fall for the trick that "Pay it Forward" pulls at its end - where it shows that if you're nice to someone, it sometimes doesn't make the world a better place - aren't to be blamed for their crying. This film is false, manipulative garbage, and the group of genuinely talented people who made it should be ashamed of themselves. Haley Joel Osment, who plays all his roles so seriously that it's almost impossible to imagine what he'd be like alongside regular 11-year-olds when he's not "perfecting his craft," stars here as Trevor, a warm-hearted little boy who tries to make the world a better place. Sob. He takes in a homeless man, only to see the homeless man go back on drugs. Sniffle-sniffle. His bleach-blonde, alcoholic mom Helen Hunt is hiding bottles of liquor around the house. (Hunt, by the way, played more convincing drug addicts in her Afterschool Specials. At one point, she takes a swig and acts all drunk before she even has time to swallow.) Boohoo. His dad, Jon Bon Jovi, has left him. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. And his teacher, Kevin Spacey, has a horribly burned face and is cynical. OK, hand me a tissue. Spacey and Hunt, two Oscar winners, do no such caliber work here, where Mimi Leder's leaden direction or the just-plain-awful script don't help them out much. The framework story of the narrative, involving Jay Mohr, interrupts and confuses the story. Angie Dickinson crawls herself out of the grave to play Helen Hunt's mother in a creepy cameo. Someone above described the movie as "warm-hearted." I ask you, "What is so warmhearted about that suckerpunch of an ending? What does that ending say about the message of the film?" At the end of this drivel, I didn't want to pay anyone forward. I wanted someone to pay me my money back.
Rating:
Summary: cant get much better
Review: This movie is great, i shouldnt have to say anymore, but i will.
start of the seventh grade, new assignment, "what would you do to change the world, and put it into action"
this is what Trevor McKinney is faced with on his first day in seventh grade.
he comes up with the idea of PAY IT FORWARD
do a big favor for 3 people who in turn pay it forward to 3 others and so on.
but there is so much more to this movie than this. all the actors are perfect. Helen Hunt plays his mother, and Kevin Spacey his teacher that gave the assignment, also co-starring James Caviezel and Angie Dickenson.
but what i liked about this movie is that every character has their own story to tell, and Director Mimi Leder has captured it in such a way that you feel what everyone has gone through. this is the only film i can remember feeling this way about every character. so if you can watch this movie, with the lights down low and have total concentration then this is a movie that you can get lost in and will definetly stick with you for a long time.
the DVD is a great buy (f you are interested).
Rating:
Summary: Its a Treat
Review: Any movie which leaves one thinking- could I really make this a better world to live in too, is well worth watching and encouraging others to watch. This is a great movie, it has a story line that although initialy a little confusing, comes together beautifully in the end. The acting of Helen Hunt,Kevin Spacey and Haley Joel Osment is superb and their characters bring a warmth to this beautiful and tragic story in a way that only great acting can.
Rating:
Summary: Pay It Forward-A MUST SEE
Review: This movie can change your life. If everyone could see this movie, this world would be a better place. This movie will give you renewed hope.
Rating:
Summary: Good performances around a sketchy story
Review: Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment turn in terrific performances as you'd expect. James Caviezel as Jerry is absolutely awesome in portraying a heroin-addicted homeless person. Jay Mohr is passable as the reporter tracking down the story of Pay it Forward. And Jon Bon Jovi gets way too little screen time, but definitely makes the most of the few minutes that he's been allotted. You already know the story. Trevor (Osment) is given an extra credit assignment to make the world better. He creates Pay it Forward and begins to change the world with Jerry, the drug addict. Fast forward a few months and the movement is taking over the American West. Insert Jay Mohr as a struggling reporter on the receiving end of a Pay it Forward good deed who must figure out what it is all about. Trace backwards from that point until the two story lines meet in the middle. Throw in some domestic violence, alcoholism, single-motherhood, and child abuse and you've got yourself Pay it Forward. The movie is fun to watch, but seems a bit too long and is definitely overly melodramatic in some scenes. The final scene with the thousands of mourners driving up to the house with that Calling All Angels song is just begging for tears. Also, it is unclear why Arlene and Eugene get attracted to each other, especially after their first encounter. This movie has a lot going for it, from the all-star cast to the pretty good premise. If the subplots were a little better laid out and the director hadn't gone for the cheese, this could have gotten 5 stars. It's good enough to get 4, though. Have a Blockbuster night with this one.
Rating:
Summary: NESARA - Pay it FOward
Review: Great movie. Allthrough the movie is a bit to slow. The plot in this movie is truly fantastic.
Similar to the movie there is actual a working concept in work that are planning to go publich. This concept is NESARA. Its still unofficial but i think its one of the greatest project on earth going on right now. Anyone that find Pay It Forward interesting should check out what NESARA stands for. I really hope NESARA is real. What is N.E.S.A.R.A.?
NESARA stands for:
National Economic Security and Reformation Act. Unofficial NESARA News...
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