Pay It Forward (2000)
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A young boy's school project of performing random acts of kindness evolves into a massive national movement.
The story
Trevor McKinney, a seventh-grader in Las Vegas, initiates a goodwill movement called 'pay it forward' as a school project. The concept requires that the recipient of a favor performs a favor for three others who cannot complete it themselves. Trevor begins the movement by helping a homeless man, while his mother, Arlene, struggles with her own life as a recovering alcoholic. When Trevor's project begins to gain traction, it creates a chain of unexpected consequences for those involved, eventually reaching the ears of a reporter who begins to trace the origins of the movement back to the boy's classroom.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Trevor McKinney, a seventh-grader in Las Vegas, creates a 'pay it forward' movement where a favor is passed on to three others. He begins by helping a homeless man named Jerry, who later performs a favor for Trevor's mother, Arlene. Arlene, a recovering alcoholic, eventually finds a connection with Trevor's scarred teacher, Eugene Simonet. The narrative follows a reporter, Chris Chandler, who traces a chain of favors back to Trevor's original school project. Along the way, various characters—including a homeless woman and a gang member—perform acts of kindness that ripple outward. The story culminates in a tragic turn when Trevor is fatally stabbed while defending a friend from bullies. The film ends with Arlene and Eugene mourning Trevor while thousands of people gather in a vigil to honor the movement he started.
- First release year
- 2000
- Runtime (minutes)
- 123
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Mimi Leder
- Writers
- Leslie Dixon · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Kevin Spacey · Eugene Simonet; Helen Hunt · Arlene McKinney; Haley Joel Osment · Trevor McKinney; Jay Mohr · Chris Chandler; James Caviezel · Jerry; Jon Bon Jovi · Ricky McKinney; Angie Dickinson · Grace; Marc Donato · Adam
- Genres
- romantic drama
- Themes
- human kindness; redemption; sacrifice
- Tone and mood
- emotional; dramatic
- Premise and plot tags
- based on a novel; community service; chain reaction
- Source material / true-story basis
- novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde
- Content notes
- alcoholism
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews and was a box office disappointment.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 39% · review count: 129; Metacritic · score: 40 · scale: 100 · review count: 34; CinemaScore · score: A · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film's setting was changed from Tucson, Arizona, to Las Vegas, Nevada.; The character of Eugene Simonet was originally an African-American man in the novel.; The role of Eugene Simonet was offered to Denzel Washington, who turned it down.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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