On the Fence

Well, since no one else seems interested in the challenge, Ms. Abel, I'll humor You, and if everyone save Ben has seen this a 'cryptyllion' times before, or even once, I apolagize.

Pay It Forward.

Released October 20, 2000

Directed By Mimi Leder, whom also directed...nothing I've even heard of save for Deep Impact and ER.

Based upon the book by Catherine Ryan Hyde,
which I bought before I saw the movie and never got around to reading; now I don't really want to.

Starring
(because we all know this is most important):

Kevin Spacey as Eugene Simonet

Helen Hunt as Arlene McKinney

Haley Joel Osment as Trevor McKinney

With a short but definately sweet (much sarcasm implied here) appearance by Jon Bon Jovi

Basic Idea: Trevor has had a tough childhood, his mom is (basically) a single mother working two jobs, and a struggling/recovering alcoholic. On the first day of seventh grade, Mr Simonet, the Social Studies teacher gives this assignment "Think of something to change the world and put it into action."
This is his Plan:


Pay it forward, which means that the world is shit, and that you do three big favors for three people, then they do the same thing, and it gets exponentially greater each time, in this way, the world can be a better place, and we'll all live happily ever after.

NOT!!

Throughout the movie, I grow convinced that this is a great idea, and that he's right the world can be less shitty if we do something, blah blah blah, but then the end.

Oh my God.

I'm not going to ruin it, or I'll try not to, because that's what I was told to do, but

Oh my God.


I have never cried so long and hard over a movie, in my life. I cried so much, it was just so sad, and unfair.

For the time being I'm feeling rather pessimistic, so I don't really like the movie at all, but catch me on a 'good' day, and I just might say that, even though I hate the ending, it's a really great story, a really great idea, and that humanity could actually make it work.

Not much seems to have been payed forward in the last 8 years since it came out. Whether this is because the last minute twist killed the neccessary motivation, or because we're all a bunch of selfish bastards who think of only ourselves and a select few around us, I'll never know, but obviously, for some reason, it just didn't work.

Other Comments:
I wasn't able to notice the acting in the movie too much because of the 'touching' story, but from what I payed attention to, it was kind of an on again off again thing, and the same with the writing. There was much 'inappropriate' language and other things, to the point that Betsy Crandell was not aloud to finish watching it. All of the language seemed to be neccessary, but maybe I'm just odd. Haley Joel Osment was just so cute, which is always a plus, you know, except when he makes me cry. The timeline was rather confusing, because it goes from 4 months in the future and back and forth, meanwhile time is progressing in each place, yet the timing eventually lines up until the people and the plots meet, which wouldn't be too bad if the transitions weren't so confusing.

As I've expressed, this was a good movie and a bad movie, but mostly bad because I don't like it when a movie makes me cry that much, and then leaves me crying after it ends because it's still sad. I refuse to recommend it, but if you want to watch it, it's you're funeral.