PAY IT FORWARD (2000) / **
Directed by Mimi Leder. Screenplay by Leslie Dixon, based on the novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde. Starring Haley Joel Osment, Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey. Running time: 124 minutes. Rated AA by the MFCB. Reviewed on November 18th, 2000.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
There are some nice ideas in "Pay It Forward". One of them is the central premise itself -- that one person does "three big favours for three other people", and then those people do three more favours for three more people, and on and on. Better still, these have to be favours that the other people "can't do for themselves" -- certainly not a minor proposition!
Admittedly, it's not a terribly realistic concept. I think that in real life, far too many people would take advantage of the first part without doing the second (or is that just my own cynicism peeking through?). But in a cinematic context, there is nothing wrong with this per se, and indeed the "pay it forward" philosophy has all the makings of a juicy movie premise.
Unfortunately, the Mimi Leder picture just does not have enough faith in its central idea. Instead of taking the ball and running with it, "pay it forward" is used as a clothesline on which to hang a number of far less rivetting, less original subplots. Despite its title, this is not a movie about a philanthropic way of life, but instead concerns itself mostly the broken people who become involved in that lifestyle.
And make no mistake, "Pay It Forward" is a film almost entirely populated with broken people -- those suffering from abuse, alcoholism, drug addictions, or simply neglect. Some have suggested the movie is "Capra-esque", but it is Capra viewed through distinctly 21st-century misanthropy. Those expecting a latter-day "It's A Wonderful Life" are likely to be disappointed.
Middle schooler Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) is a latchkey kid whose alcoholic father is long gone. Mother Arlene (Helen Hunt) works two jobs and is so close to falling off the wagon that she must be scraping pavement. Trevor's new social studies teacher is Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey), a man who is himself scarred both physically and emotionally. But Eugene is a good teacher, and on the first day of school, he challenges his class to come up with "an idea that will change the world -- and put it into action".
So quickly that you'd swear he must have been expecting the question, Trevor devises the "pay it forward" philosophy. His first act is to let a homeless man (James Caviezel) live in his garage. Then he tries to hook up Arlene and Eugene, neither of whom have been able to cultivate a functional love life. And for his third "big favour", he goes to the aid of a classmate perpetually troubled by bullies.
None of these work out quite like Trevor had hoped. And yet, the script by Leslie Dixon assures us that something good will come of it, because we are privy to glimpses of four months in the future, when a reporter (Jay Mohr) becomes part of "pay it forward" and begins backtracking through the chain to find its originator.
Unfortunately, each of Trevor's "favours" are used not so much to propel the "pay it forward" story forward, but rather as springboards, to a greater or lesser extent, for subplots of inferior dramatic value. It is these which dominate the movie. The most significant is the relationship between Arlene and Eugene. Disappointingly, especially given two such unusual characters and two such talented actors, this is nothing more than a standard romantic storyline. It goes through so many timeworn stages of misunderstanding, revelation, complication, separation, and reconciliation that it could have been lifted directly from a screenwriter's how-to book.
If nothing else, these sequences do at least boast the acting skills of Hunt and Spacey, who are in their usual fine form. That Hunt is able to portray Arlene as such a complex, troubled individual without engendering feelings of pity (or, for that matter, disgust) is somewhat remarkable. Hunt doesn't forget that, while Arlene is burdened by a tremendous number of issues, there is more to the character than just those issues. This is best illustrated in a terrific scene with Angie Dickinson (playing a bag lady), one of "Pay It Forward"'s few genuinely touching moments.
Spacey, meanwhile, does an excellent job of alluding to the hidden depths in Eugene's psyche without overplaying it. Consider the sequence in which Eugene finally reveals the root of his problems. As scripted, it is typical melodramatic fare, but Spacey never loses his center and plays the scene sincerely, without caving into the overt sentimentality of the moment, giving it some measure of credibility. Spacey also enjoys an excellent on-screen rapport with Osment, who continues to demonstrate that he is one of those rare child stars who actually knows how to act, rather than just mug for the camera.
The other subplots are not so blessed, unfortunately. The chronicle of Caviezel's hobo comes across as particularly disjointed, as the script drops in on it only at emotional highpoints (or lowpoints, as the case may be). It feels like we're just seeing the trailer for a more detailed storyline.
The school bully arc, meanwhile, is plainly included only to provide "Pay It Forward" with a convenient conclusion. This would not be so bad if that ending were more meaningful, but as it stands, it constitutes nothing more than indisputable viewer manipulation on the part of the screenwriters. I will not divulge any details, except to say that rarely have I watched a scene so clearly intended merely to provoke an obvious response from the audience, without any thought given to how this might impact on the movie's overall theme.
As a result, "Pay It Forward" comes across as something of an oddity -- a movie which not only shunts its own premise into the background for long stretches of time, but indeed provides its own evidence to discredit that premise. A few good performances do not come close enough to saving this poorly-conceived film. "Pay It Forward" has the makings of something good, but in the end it is much like the characters which inhabit it: broken.
Copyright © 2000 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies/PayItForward.html
_______________________________________________________________________ / Shannon Patrick Sullivan | "We are all in the gutter, but some of us \ | shannon@mun.ca | are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde | \___________________________|__________________________________________/ | Popcorn Gallery Movie Reviews www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html | | Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) /drwho.html |
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