Pay It Forward

Name: Pay It Forward
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: October 20, 2000
Duration: 123 min
Rating: 40
Cast: Haley Joel Osment, Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey

2000

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 162 Ratings

See All

8.1

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

8.1	Your Score
8.1	User Score Universal acclaim based on 162 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Pay It Forward

Now Playing: Pay It Forward

Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: October 20, 2000 | PG-13

Starring: Haley Joel Osment, Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey

Summary: Eugene Simonet (Spacey) is a social studies teacher who teaches his class that it is possible for one person to change the world. When one student (Osment) really listens and believes, the ripples begin to be felt by others in his life and the idea starts to spread across the nation.

Director: Mimi Leder

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 123 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Jay Carr

The kind of film you've got to admire simply for the way it squares its shoulders and plunges into a message of unfashionable idealism.

Todd McCarthy

An unusual film that intelligently avoids numerous potential pitfalls even if its central earnestness is ultimately inescapable. Read full review

Jonathan Foreman

Works unexpectedly well for its first three quarters.

Rene Rodriguez

Winds up making a very good case for never going out of your way to help anybody.

Rita Kempley

Baldly manipulative, emotionally counterfeit melodrama. Read full review

Dana Stevens

It's so enamored of its own upbeat view of human nature that it expects you to overlook its stick-figure characters, its creaky plot machinery and its remorseless assault on your tear ducts. Read full review

Dennis Lim

An overflowing septic tank of chicken-soupy sanctimony that proceeds from casually offensive hypocrisy to wretchedly inapt religiosity. Read full review

SEE ALL 34 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

RONGIU

Aug 30, 2010

Sorry for the translation With the permission of the director, Mimi Leder, enter Class Trevor, as auditors of course. The lesson has already begun.
â

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

SEROJ

May 24, 2016

I can't believe that this movie is so underrated! Such a great story, brilliant acting and superb message make this movie a must watch for every single human being! Masterpiece!

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

annbd

Jun 29, 2018

Beautiful film, top 10 of all time movies. It's humanistic, captivating and inspiring virtue. It's not cramping and could be a great ending of a busy day.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Ali42

Oct 15, 2019

A poignant story that close to evеryone about the boy, who wanted to change the world, but thought that don't have enough power to accomplish such a big goal. In fact he has become inspiration for people, because he had courage to do something instead complaining on futility of attempts,A poignant story that close to evеryone about the boy, who wanted to change the world, but thought that don't have enough power to accomplish such a big goal. In fact he has become inspiration for people, because he had courage to do something instead complaining on futility of attempts, like candle in the dark he has lighted many souls around.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

LeZee

Jun 8, 2015

The world can't change by itself, we must bring it.

After watching this film I just remembered the quote from 'Sullivan's Travels' which says 'film's the greatest educational medium the world has ever known'. Indeed, cinema's for entertainment as well acts as a message deliverer. This wasThe world can't change by itself, we must bring it.

After watching this film I just remembered the quote from 'Sullivan's Travels' which says 'film's the greatest educational medium the world has ever known'. Indeed, cinema's for entertainment as well acts as a message deliverer. This was an inspirational movie, and everybody must see it. I know I'm a bit late to see it, better late than never, right? I'm really glad for having it at the right time because 15 years ago I did not have this blog to write about it.

Ok, the name of the movie represents the theme of the story. No matter its a developed or developing country, society needs something like the idea this movie talks about. Carrying a good social message, the movie slightly lags behind the too much on the emotions, especially the end part. There won't be a problem if you like melodrama. Other than that, I feel the conclusion was smart and strong, a better solution which would appeal for certain group rather alternate finale.

The film was based on the novel of the same name, crafted by a fine director with the wonderful cast. Haley Joel Osment had a great career as a child-star, you should check some of his films if you love children's movies including this title on the top of that list. As a middle aged actor, Helen Hunt's one of the last best performances before turning into a senior artist. It's not a usual role for Kevin Spacey, but he nailed it with the good dialogues. Especially his talk about the topic 'child abuse' was a great thing from the movie. Overall, the actors get more credit for the first-class acts as the script demanded for their respective roles.

What did you ever do to change the world.

A movie about a man who achieved in science gets the Oscar, not that real man. A movie about a man escapes from the war prison camp and slavery gets the award, and again none of those real persons. But a movie with the original, intelligent, inspiring, specially designed for a movie was not even a contender of the Oscars. Of course, it was transformed from a book, though there are/were no real people behind these great characters, all are imagined/created for the book and the movie. I never understood the American Academy Awards.

By now you would know that I hate critics badly if you are a regular reader of my blog. Once again they failed to recognise how great the morality of the story is, rather they have concentrated to criticise the writing and the technical aspect of the film. Although, it was not a box office flop or earned beyond, but got a lot of praise from the families. It's a wonderful family drama, but still too far from being a masterpiece. Intelligent enough one to get motivated towards the social issues. Being practical in the real world is a concern as it is risky, depending on the situation and the person, just like this movie's ending. Rare to find a movie like this, you must check it out.

8/10… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

PatFlores2003

Apr 29, 2022

A good movie that gives us the idea of how to change the world... If only, it had the best idea to make the world a better place... Perfect performances, very good script, very good plot and editing and photography were excellent... It is one of the movies that everyone needs to see.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

CuptralCritique

Jun 1, 2014

After seeing this movie, all I had to say was "Meh". This movie's biggest fault is its repetitive nature. The plot just loops over itself constantly, and when lots of moments are sad, they can feel a bit unnecessary. For an example, the teacher, Eugene, will randomly get upset with theAfter seeing this movie, all I had to say was "Meh". This movie's biggest fault is its repetitive nature. The plot just loops over itself constantly, and when lots of moments are sad, they can feel a bit unnecessary. For an example, the teacher, Eugene, will randomly get upset with the mother, Arlene, over and over again, but by the time a couple scenes have gone by, it's all okay again! Also, when Arlene slaps Trevor, at first it seems really well done (even though the kid can be really annoying) but then, they throw it all out the window by making them make-up in what seems to be less than three minutes. And do you know what happens next? They never mention it again! It's never brought up again once in the remaining running time of this movie! Maybe it's referenced, and I just missed it, but I didn't see any callbacks to it. The over-all plot can be nice, but I feel they repeat certain aspects that don't need to be repeated, and things that should be repeated, or even brought up again, simply don't see the light of day again. The acting is great for the most part, but those supposed "Grade Sevens" DON'T ACT OR LOOK ANYTHING LIKE GRADE SEVENS! They sound more like grade threes, and no, that's no exaggeration. The way the movie jumps forward and backward in time can also feel a bit messy. The music in this movie isn't necessarily bad, but it's overused...so...much! That piano piece, let me tell you just how annoying it got after hearing it about twenty times. A good element though is that the movie's jokes can be funny. Lastly, the ending is so sad, but so rushed. Trevor gets stabbed by some bullies that he'd run away from earlier in the movie. This death is so underwhelming! They should've made it something bigger, like if he'd sacrificed himself for his mother, or his teacher. The way it is just seems anti-climactic. I don't know, maybe I'm just wrong, but I really don't like it. I feel like the plot repeats, the grade sevens DO NOT look like grade sevens, the music gets annoying, and the characters aren't very memorable. In fact, when I was watching it for the first time, no one could remember the names: "Arlene", "Eugene", and "Trevor". Instead, they said: "the Teacher", "the Mother", and "the Kid". Keep in mind, this is just my opinion, but I think Pay it Forward should either have been changed, or not have been payed to go forward.… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

SEE ALL 10 REVIEWS

77	#77 Most Discussed Movie of 2000
51	#51 Most Shared Movie of 2000