Pay it Forward **** (2000, Haley Joel Osment, Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, James Caviezel, Jay Mohr, Jon Bon Jovi, Angie Dickinson) – Classic Film Review 1167

Director Mimi Leder’s 2000 fine, good-spirited drama stars Haley Joel Osment as 11 and a half year-old Trevor McKinney, the young son of a working, single mom (Helen Hunt), who begins seventh grade at school in Las Vegas. There he is inspired to do three good deeds to change the world for the better by a school project from his social-studies teacher Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey) and launch a good-will movement where others will do the same.

Trevor calls his project Pay It Forward, whereby the recipient of a favour does a favour for three others rather than paying the favour back. It must be a major favour the receiver couldn’t do themselves. The mother is understandably not best pleased when this leads the boy to take in a homeless down-and-out named Jerry (James Caviezel) and let him live in their garage, but Jerry pays the favour forward by doing car repairs for the mother. Jerry relapses into drug addiction, but he again pays his debt forward by talking a suicidal woman out of jumping off a bridge.

Based by screenwriter Leslie Dixon on the book by Catherine Ryan Hyde, this is a contrived, artificial but still very thoughtful, warm-hearted and moving inspirational drama. It grabs the heart and captures the imagination, thanks partly to its good spirit but mainly to superb performances by the three stars. Spacey wisely underplays the part of the disfigured teacher, Hunt is compellingly down-to-earth and Osment is a little tower of emotional strength and conviction.

It is slightly spoilt by the seriously toshy, over-sentimental ending, but it can be forgiven that. Jay Mohr, Jon Bon Jovi and Angie Dickinson also star.

Osment graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2011. He was paid only $150,000 for The Sixth Sense, but $1 million for Pay It Forward (2000) and $2 million for Artificial Intelligence: AI.

Spacey won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Usual Suspects (1995), followed by a Best Actor Academy Award win for American Beauty (1999). Hunt won the Academy Award for Best Actress for As Good as It Gets (1997).

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