I watched this film last night and I have to agree with nearly every criticism leveled at it. Pay It Forward is clunky, contrived, maudlin, shamelessly manipulative, and frequently incoherent. The scenes with the young black male seemed like outtakes from Bamboozled II, and the big revelation scenes (the reason for Kevin Spacey's character's burns, for example), were curiously flat and uninvolving. Helen Hunt is completely miscast - I giggled every time she told Spacey that she could not understand him; this coming from an actress who epitomizes class and intelligence (I kept seeing Cher, circa Mask, in the role). And yet, as the film progressed, I found myself increasingly engrossed, entranced, and moved. The basic premise of the film, that one can make a difference in the world by small acts of kindness, the consequences of which may be entirely different from our intentions, is both plausible and reasonable, and is made completely believable by a cast working at a level of excellence that I have not seen in some time. Hunt is so good that you eventually forget the fact that she is miscast, and the other leads are equally outstanding. Jim Caviezel's open, haunted, and haunting face is a revelation every time he appears on screen, and Angie Dickinson's performance as Hunt's mother is so good that it makes one lament that she was not given more to do, in this movie, and in life. It is Dickinson's reunion scene with Hunt, in which daughter forgives mother for the neglect and abuse she had to endure as a child, that is the true emotional climax of the film. I am not ashamed to say that I burst into tears. So forgive the film its many faults, and its disgusting cheat of an ending. Despite its problems, Pay It Forward is more worthy of your time than 99% of the stuff out there right now. After all, forgiveness is the key, and the only way to break the long chain of pain, ignorance, and suffering that determines so much of life.
Review of Pay It Forward
