Pay It Forward

It's impossible not to get emotionally manipulated by "Pay It Forward" because the film hits nearly every dramatic stereotype and is manufactured in a way that basically forces you to get sad at least for a little bit. The movie is about a sweet young man, so pure and innocent that when his social-studies teacher gives him an assignment to make the world a better place, he comes up with a model that he believes will change everything. Trevor (Haley Joel Osment) proposes to create a movement of "paying it forward". You do one favor for a complete stranger and instruct them to do the same for three other people. If the project goes as planned, the amount of men, women and children whose lives are improved by random acts of kindness will be incalculable.

You name it and it's here: suicide, addiction to drugs, alcoholism, parental abandonment, bullying, martyrdom, poverty, children running away from home, spousal abuse and even a tiny sprinkle of sexual abuse too. If any of these subjects hit an emotional nerve, you will get at least partially sucked into the drama of the film, but it's impossible not to be. Not in a good way either, with character development and genuine intrigue in the lives of these people. This movie just comes in like a puppet master and forces you to feel the way you do. While it does have good intentions I found that the plot was so over-the-top that it felt phoney. Kevin Spacy, Hellen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment are all good, and if the film had been limited to the drama between these three characters it would have been a satisfying story. It's a shame that it didn't try to work on a smaller scale because then it could have been an inspirational tale. With the over-the-top ending it really feels like it's desperate to make you emotional and ultimately I found it more laughable than tear-jerking. (On Dvd, October 31, 2012)