Pay It Forward (film): Difference between revisions

{{Short description|2000 American drama film by Mimi Leder}}

| borderalt = no

* [[Kevin Spacey]]

* [[Helen Hunt]]

* [[Haley Joel Osment]]

* [[Jay Mohr]]

* [[Jim Caviezel|James Caviezel]]

* [[Jon Bon Jovi]]

* [[Angie Dickinson]]
}}

| studio = {{ubl|[[Steven Reuther|Bel-Air Entertainment]]|Tapestry Films|[[Pathé]]}}

| budget = $40 million<ref name="mojo"/>

| gross = $55.7 million<ref name="mojo">{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=payitforward.htm|title=Pay It Forward (2000) |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=25 February 2018}}</ref>

'''''Pay It Forward''''' is a 2000 American [[romantic drama film]] directed by [[Mimi Leder]]. The film is based loosely on the [[Pay It Forward (novel)|novel of the same name]] by [[Catherine Ryan Hyde]]. It is set in Las Vegas, and it chronicles 11- to 12-year-old Trevor McKinney's launch of a goodwill movement known as "[[pay it forward]]". It stars [[Haley Joel Osment]] as Trevor, [[Helen Hunt]] as his alcoholic single mother Arlene McKinney, and [[Kevin Spacey]] as his physically and emotionally scarred social studies teacher Eugene Simonet. The film was released on October 20, 2000, to mixed reviews and grossedwas a box office disappointment, grossing $55.7 million worldwide against a $40 million budget.

Trevor McKinney begins 7ththe seventh grade in [[Las Vegas]]. His social studies teacher, Eugene Simonet, assigns the class to put into action a plan that will change the world for the better. Trevor calls his plan "pay it forward", which means the recipient of a favor does a favor for three others rather than paying it back. However, it needs to be a favor that the recipient cannot complete themselves. Trevor implements the plan himself, forming a branch of good deeds. His first deed is to let a homeless man named Jerry live in his garage, and Jerry pays the favor forward by doing car repairs for Trevor's mother, Arlene, though Jerry later disappoints Trevor by moving out and returning to drug use.

Meanwhile, Arlene confronts Eugene about Trevor's project after discovering Jerry in their house. Trevor then selects Eugene as his next "pay it forward" target and tricks Eugene and Arlene into a romantic dinner date. This also appears to fail, and Trevor and Arlene argue about her love for Ricky, her alcoholic ex-husband, andto the point where Arlene slaps Trevor in a fit of anger. Eugene and Arlene are brought together again when Trevor runs away from home, and Arlene asks Eugene to help her find him. After finding Trevor, Arlene begins to pursue Eugene sexually. Eugene has deep burn marks visible on his neck and face, and he initially resists Arlene's overtures out of insecurity. When they finally sleep together, he is seen to have extensive scarring all over his torso. Arlene accepts this and forms an emotional bond with him, but abandons their relationship when Ricky returns, claiming to have quit drinking. Her accepting him angers Eugene, whose mother had a habit of taking his abusive, alcoholic father back. Eugene explains that his scars are the result of his father setting him on fire in a drunken rage. He berates Arlene for being like his mother and warns her of Ricky's potential to abuse Trevor. When Ricky starts drinking again and resumes his abusive behavior, Arlene realizes her mistake and forces Ricky to leave. In his final scene, Jerry talks a suicide jumper off a bridge.

Trevor's school assignment marks the beginning of the story's chronology, but the opening scene in the film shows one of the later favors in the "pay it forward" tree, in which a man gives a car to [[Los Angeles]] journalist Chris Chandler. As the film proceeds, Chris traces the chain of favors back to its origin as Trevor's school project. After her date with Eugene, Arlene paidpays Jerry's favor forward by forgiving her own mother, Grace, for her mistakes in raising Arlene, and Grace, who is homeless, helps a gang member escape from the police. The gang member then saves an asthmatic girl's life in a hospital, and the girl's father gives Chris his new car.

Chris finally identifies Trevor as the originator of "pay it forward" and conducts a recorded interview in which Trevor describes his hopes and concerns for the project. Eugene, hearing Trevor, realizes that he and Arlene should be together. As Eugene and Arlene reconcile with an embrace, Trevor notices his friend Adam being bullied. He pays forward to Adam by rushing into the scene and fighting the bullies while Eugene and Arlene rush to stop him. One of the bullies pulls out a switchblade as another one pushes Trevor against him, unintentionally fatally stabbing Trevor in the stomach. Trevor later dies at the hospital at 7:35 PMpm. This, and the spread of the movement across the country, is being reported in the news; Arlene and Eugene are soon visited by thousands of people, including students from Trevor's school, who have participated in or heard of the "pay it forward" movement by gathering in a [[vigil]] to honor him. In the final scene, Jerry talks a suicide jumper off a bridge.

* [[Kevin Spacey]] as Eugene Simonet, Trevor's social studies teacher, and an emotionally and physically scarred man. As a teenager, he suffered abuse from his father (including lighting him on fire) and still has burns visible on his face and torso. He begins the film as a shy recluse, self-conscious about his deformities, but eventually, he enters a relationship with Trevor's mother Arlene, and overcomes his fears. He sets an assignment tofor Trevor's class, asking them to change the world for the better. He is changed significantly from the novel, where there was an African-American man named Reuben St. Clair who had been injured in the Vietnam War.

* [[James Caviezel]] as Jerry, a homeless drug addict whom Trevor attempts to help as part of the "pay it forward" movement. Although Trevor believes his attempts have failed once Jerry relapses into drug use, Jerry eventually pays it forward by saving a woman who wasis about to kill herself by jumping off a bridge.

* [[Marc Donato]] as Adam, Trevor's friend who has been bullied his whole life at school. Trevor pays it forward to him by preventing him from being bullied; however, Trevor is fatally stabbed in the process.

[[Leslie Dixon]] adapted the screenplay from the [[Pay It Forward (novel)|book of the same name]] by [[Catherine Ryan Hyde]], which was available as an open writing assignment.{{sfn|Cohen|2008|p=115}} Dixon struggled with the adaptation of the book in part because of [[multiperspectivity|multiple narrative]] voices within it. Specifically, the reporter, the central character in the film, does not show up until halfway through the novel. Stuck, Dixon considered returning the money she was paid for the assignment.{{sfn|Cohen|2008|p=117}} She eventually hit upon the idea to start with the reporter and trace the events backward.{{sfn|Cohen|2008|p=117}} Dixon presented the idea to Hyde who in turn liked it so much that she decided to change the then -unpublished novel's plot structure to mirror the film's.{{sfn|Cohen|2008|pages=117-118}} In the novel, the character of Eugene Simonet was originally an African-American man named Reuben St. Clair.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Alter |first1=Ethan |title='Pay It Forward' courts a racial controversy |url=https://ew.com/article/2000/10/17/pay-it-forward-courts-racial-controversy/ |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=14 July 2022 |date=October 17, 2000}}</ref> The role was offered to [[Denzel Washington]], but he turned it down the role to do ''[[Remember the Titans]]'' instead. Kevin Spacey was contacted next and accepted the role of Eugene Simonet.

Though the book is set in [[Tucson, Arizona]], the film production changed the setting to [[Las Vegas|Las Vegas, Nevada]], to “show"show Las Vegas life off the [[Las Vegas Strip|Strip]].”"<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Cling |first=Carol |date=2000-01-17 |title=Column: Shooting Stars |work=[[Las Vegas Review-Journal]] |url=http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2000/Jan-17-Mon-2000/lifestyles/12756188.html |url-status=dead |access-date=2022-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011213220630/http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2000/Jan-17-Mon-2000/lifestyles/12756188.html |archive-date=2001-12-13}}</ref> Filming took place between February<ref>{{cite news |title=Haley Joel Osment, supporting actor of the year |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hn42AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA75 |access-date=July 14, 2022 |newspaper=[[Philippine Daily Inquirer]] |date=February 17, 2001 |page=G3}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> and April 2000<ref>{{cite news |last1=Carr |first1=Jay |title=Setting a standard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2RPAAAAIBAJ&dq=pay+it+forward+filming+las+vegas&pg=PA28 |access-date=July 14, 2022 |work=[[Boston Globe]] |via=[[Toledo Blade]] |date=November 9, 2000 |page=D3}}</ref> in Las Vegas and in studio in Los Angeles, California,<ref>{{cite web |title=Pay It Forward |url=https://filming.90210locations.info/film-locations/pay-it-forward/ |website=filming.90210locations.info |access-date=July 14, 2022}}</ref> with additional shooting (for the bridge scene) taking place in Portland, Oregon.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pay It Forward |url=http://www.filminamerica.com/Movies/PayItForward/ |website=Film in America |access-date=July 14, 2022}}</ref>

==Soundtrack=Music===

In addition, the song "[[Calling All Angels (Jane Siberry song)|Calling All Angels]]" by [[Jane Siberry]] is played inat the end of the film and is included on the soundtrack.

The film opened at #4 inat the North American box office making $9,631,359 million [[USD]] in its opening weekend,<ref name=mojo/> behind ''[[Remember the Titans]]'', ''[[Bedazzled (2000 film)|Bedazzled]]'' and ''[[Meet the Parents]]'', the latter of which was on its third week of release at the number one spot.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Natale |first1=Richard |title='Parents' Gets In the Last Word With Moviegoers |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-oct-23-ca-40646-story.html?_ga=2.54859627.1994709846.1657530554-1308657366.1656644589 |access-date=14 July 2022 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=October 23, 2000}}</ref>

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval score of 39% based on 130131 reviews, with an average rating of 5.101/10. The consensus reads, "''Pay It Forward'' has strong performances from Spacey, Hunt, and Osment, but the movie itself is too emotionally manipulative and the ending is bad."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pay_it_forward/|title=Pay It Forward|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=March 19, 2020}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a score of 40 out of 100 based on reviews from 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/pay-it-forward|title=Pay It Forward Reviews|website=[[Metacritic]]|publisher=[[Red Ventures]]|accessdate=February 2, 2022}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{cite web |url=http https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title=CinemaScore PAY IT FORWARD (2000) A |publisherwork= [[CinemaScore]] |accessdateurl-status=February 2,dead 2022}}{{cbignore}}|archive-url= Eachhttps://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ film's|archive-date= score can be2018-12-20 accessed from the website's search bar.}}</ref>

{{wikiquote|Pay It Forward (film)}}