Director: Mimi Leder
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment

LPay It Forward is based on the novel, Pay It Forward, by Catherine Ryan Hyde. I never read the book so I went in with no predilections. Osment plays Trever the son of a a drunk hard working abusee, Arlene McKinney, played by Helen Hunt. The movie's plot is based around Trever's year long change the world problem assigned by his new teacher Eugene Simonet, played by Kevin Spacy. Trever develops a system called pay it forward, where when someone is helped they then help three other people, kind of like a chain letter. The movie is extremely predictable, except how the other plot line, following the reported Chris through his investigation of the pay it forward system, managed to wedge its way into the main thread. From the first time Arlene and Eugene are brought together it is obvious they will fall in love, even though they do not get along at their first meeting. The characters often seem more like over dramatizations of the troubled working class than actual individuals. Arlene is an alcoholic working two jobs with long hours and trying to raise Trevor at the same time, but she is never home. When her life is finally on the right track, recovering from her alcoholism and in love with Eugene, Trevor's deadbeat dad returns. She gladly drops her new life to continue the circle of abuse. Eugene is an intellectually pretentious and emotionally damaged school teacher. He is unable to connect with others and lives by a strick daily schedule. At times it is a wonder Arlene and Eugene would actually work together. The characters are constantly facing troubles to the point where it becomes so thick it seems like a soap opera. Towards the end the movie loses momentum and seems to end nowhere in sight. To end this mess, a downer moment is used that is probably the only way the give Pay It Forward a finite ending. Pay It Forward is an over dramatic drama that often seemed unfocused.

Score: 6.1

Cabal