Pay it forward discussion (1 Viewer)

[Andrew s wells]

I did a search and couldnt find any discussions on this movie so i was curious to know what your opinions are on it.I was totally blown away by how good this movies was. Great performances by helen,kevin and of course haley. Did any award nominations comeout of this movie?

I don't see how something like this could be overlooked.

Thoughts?

 

[Dan Brecher]

Andrew, discussion about the movie itself is best suited to the Movies forum. I'm moving the thread there where you'll get a better response...

Dan (UK)

 

[Scott Weinberg]

I didn't much care for this one. To me, it came off as trite, forced and manipulative. Good performances can't always save a weak screenplay, and I think the film's poor showing (critically as well as B.O.) hurt its chances at Oscar gold.

Glad you liked it, though. Without spoiling anything, what did you think of the ending?

 

[Mike Broadman]

A bust, IMO.

First of all, I don't like kids. I don't like kid actors. I especially don't like the one in this movie. The weird thing about him is that he can't act like he is a kid. He's like a small adult. Remember that scene where he's watching wrestling, and he gets all excited and childish? I didn't believe it. It was so fake, yet it was a kid trying to do it. He was alright in the Sixth Sense, where the character isn't a normal kid, so it works a little better.

Kevin Spacey was pretty good, as he always is. Thought lately he's been getting on my nerves- I can't exactly put my finger on it.

Helen Hunt was fine, nothing great or awful.

I don't like movies whose sole purpose is to make you cry. Instead, they make me sleep. It also oversimplified that whole concept of "doing good." It was supposed to make us feel all warm and cuddly inside, and then make us cry at the end.

A movie conveys emotion more successfully when it is honest and believable, resonating with the viewer. This movie had a guy giving away his car because he was told to "pay it forward." Brother, please. When someone's goal is to create a solid, great story, then it can effect its viewers emotionally. This movie seemed like it wanted to skip the story and go right for the crying.

 

[Simon Massey]

Hey Andrew,
I thought this film was really good, though I know that a lot hated it.
The only problem is with the end of the film, which most people dismissed as manipulative. In the book, Trevor is far more of a national celebrity (meets the President, etc.), so the reaction is more believable than on the film, because you don't get the same sense of how this concept affected the world. The effect on the film feels far more localized, so the final scene comes across as far-fetched, and just an attempt to make you cry.
One of the main points of the film for me was that perhaps we should be a little less cynical, but what really hurt the film was that the cynic in many people dismissed it.(Didn't help that it was released at Oscar time ).

 

[Andrew s wells]

I dunno ....... i have never read the book, but the did mention in the movie that the movement had reached claifornia, and gave several more examples on the news broadcast later on.possible spoilers ahead

I think if the movie had ended any differently it wouldnt have had the same impact..its not a movie about these three people getting together and living happily ever after....i think thats the way it would have felt otherwise

 

[Simon Massey]

Don't get me wrong Andrew, I do actually like the ending and don't think it should be different. But I can see how some may dismiss it as manipulative, and I feel a better sense of how Trevor was regarded by the public prior to the ending would have improved it.

The reaction of people is similar to how people reacted to Princess Diana's death here. I am not saying this is the same, but you needed a greater sense of how Trevor's idea had affected the country in order to better explain why everyone suddenly appeared on his mother's doorstep with candles.


That said, I still really like the film

 

[Ricardo C]

Just rented this today. Overall, I liked it. Although I think it would have worked better as a straight drama. There wasn't much of a feel as to how far the Pay it Forward idea had reached, except for the dfact that Chris says it's reached L.A., and later the reporter mentions other cities that have been touched by it. But throughout most of the film, "pay it forward" is a nice little background element in the far more interesting story of Arlene, Eugene, and Trevor. The final scene did seem contrived, and I could have done without it. The performances were great all-around, especially Spacey and Hunt.

Little bit of trivia: Bradley White, who played the Governor's aide, guest-starred in Mad ABout You a few times. He played a bureaucrat in love with Helen Hunt's character.

 

[John Chow]

Did not care for it at all personally. Scott and Mike summed it up pretty well, although I don't have the problem with this child actor like Mike does. I think he didn't fit well in certain scenes (the wrestling scene for one). The ending of the movie just felt so contrived, I was thinking gimme a break. I was fine with the whole premise, but just didn't care for the movie. I think Helen Hunt is seriously beginning to get on my nerves as well. I thought she was ok in As Good As it Gets, but felt she pretty much played the same role in this movie.

 

[Jeff Pryor]

I liked this movie.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

I had a problem with his death. I mean in movies things are so contrived anyways. You have characters shot with 5 bullets in them that still live. Then here you have this kid, stabbed with a relatively small knife, in the stomach area, by another kid (less strength vs. adult). It happens at a school where the trauma response would probably be above the norm, and he dies. I mean, at least they should have had the other kid stab him in the heart, might have been more plausible. Just goes to show you, in the movies no matter how major or minor your injuries, doesn't really make a difference as to whether you live or die, it's what the writer/director wants that overrides.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I was one of the 3 people in North America that liked this movie when I saw it at the theater.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Oh I liked it. It's just what I said about his death always bugs me. But then, I didn't see it in the theater, only on DVD rental. I don't see a lot of movies in the theater, b/c many of them I would not want to see more than once, and I like to keep a big pool of DVD's to rent, of movies that I have not seen yet.