Pay it Forward
This film has so much. Each character is scarred in some way. Each character is tragic. But we also see a lot of humour, and the mundanities of their lives. Sure, Haley's character has a wonderful idea for changing the world. But this idea doesn't work instantly. And he's just a kid, who loves the WWF.
I don't think all that much of Helen Hunt normally. It feels to me like she plays Jamie Buchman in most movies. But I thought she was great in this, though I'm glad she's no longer white-blonde! Her character is weak in many ways, though strong in others. She has to work two jobs to support herself and her son. But she can't control her alcoholism. She lies about it to others. And she's losing control over, and the respect of, her son.
I'm extremely biased about Kevin Spacey. I love him in everything. He's not particularly good-looking in the conventional sense; but he has a charisma that's just magnetic. Somewhat like Raul Julia. (ooh, Raul...) His character is scarred. He's built a persona for himself; the smooth, assured Social Studies teacher who has a strict, comfortable little routine. It's extremely hard for him to let anyone in, but Helen's character intrigues him, and Haley's character is like he was, as a boy. I was incredibly touched by Spacey's anger and pain, when he tells her what happened to him when he was a child.
Helen's character tells him not to use big words around her, because it makes her feel stupid and uneducated. I could see her point, but in a way I thought that was unfair. It's just the way he talks. If he patronised her and made fun of her ignorance, that would be different.
There are some cool surprises in this. Jay Mohr's character, a journalist, traces Pay It Forward back to the beginning, and he comes across an old woman who lives in her car. She helped out a young hood by driving him away from a crime he committed.
Mind you, I hugely didn't approve of this particular favour, but never mind.
It turns out that the old woman is Helen's mother.
The ending to this film came out of nowhere, and freaked me out! Your last spoiler warning, folks...
Haley's character dies. He kicks himself throughout the movie for being unable to protect his friend from bullying. The bullies are horrible, sure, but to some extent his friend provokes them! Haley's character finally finds the courage to ride into the middle of it all to help his friend, even though it might mean that he will also get hurt. One of the bullies pulls a knife.
I left this movie in shock. I don't think I've ever cried so much in a movie, and that includes the time when I saw The Green Mile, when I was extremely pregnant and hormonal! Sure, it's manipulative, but all movies are, in their own way. To me, this wasn't obviously manipulative. I didn't sit there and think "Ahh, this is the scene where we see that Haley is a normal little boy," or "So this is where we see how hard Helen's struggling." I was absorbed in it.
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