Pay It Forward (DVD)

I viewed this sometime ago, and only remembered the ending -SPOILER- that the little boy died somehow, but as ahero, and though he didn't get to see it, his effort actually snowballed and a lot of people were both helped anduplifted! Seeing it the second time, I felt aghast at the VERY real problems which were presented. I'm guessing I was glossing over them because of the cute little boy( Haley Joel Osment), and because I love happy endings and "PAY IT FORWARD" sounded happy. The flaw is that people who seem to need a lot of help DO need a lot of help, but the help has to be in much mentally/emotionally better shape than the addict/depressed/suicidal person, AND the latter has to be able to use that help to step by step, build his/her courage and strength, and face the really terrifying content that is driving the addition and fear. I repeat that - the really terrifying content..... so a person has to confront the real battle of chemical addiction and then face often time childhood trauma when we are SOvulnerable and especially need attention, care, love, understanding and attunement from healthy adults to what's alive in us. Whew! If you have read this far, you are probably guessing my background and yes, it took me a looong time to be able to actually face the many facets of my home life, and be able to accept and understand them, and start to be authentic. I'm still in the process.Remember when something would happen and Helen Hunt would run around the house, tearing open cupboards and doors and laundry looking for her bottle? I understood how potent was the pain triggered and that she just HAD to get calm again, or turn it off. And the little boy (Osment) still had some freedom emotionally, but he so, so, wanted this new idea and his new teacher to make the world SAFE for him again, so he could feel stable, notthreatened, and grow. Sadly, he did not have anyone to encourage him to listen to his body's highly intelligent fearof that older kid with the knife. Remember at the beginning of the movie, he rescued his buddy by just walking him away!!! I wowed his courage to do that! It was really smart, because if you fight back, that's when the bigger guy with a more dangerous weapon is likely to react by hurting you badly, even killing you. But the second time,he blamed himself and abandoned his buddy, instead of taking a bit of time, and seeing if he could create a diversion and/or just drag his friend so they could run away - maybe at the expense of losing his bicycle, but remaining alive as a better prize. So, he needed guidance from an adult in that case, to understand his fear WAS valid and sensible, but that there might be a different way to solve the problem than direct confrontation. That would have been a pretty easy thing for Kevin Spacey, the teacher, to do, I think. Maybe.When the father came back, my stomach tightened and heart felt sick. He had 6 month's of sobriety and thoughthe was "all better." Yuk. And Helen Hunt went right into trying again, because when you are a child, with a child'simmature nervous system, you know you can't survive without the parent(s) who are your sole means of survival,so that "training" is deep and engrained.What might have worked would have been that the mom take a year and stay in her group, mind the cautions, stay off the alcohol, still see the teacher, but be friends, face the husband, work through that need to take him back, getthe divorce, shore up as many healthy friends as she can, bring as much happy times as she can when they present themselves, and give the teacher time to respect her struggle and get used to what she has to face - maybe even get in a trauma group himself. Of course, that is not magic, it's a lot of struggle and you have to find a group thatdoesn't mostly mirror your very makeup, so you can observe healthy interactions. This sounds hideously unrealistic, but, have you seen the documentary RBG (Ruth Bader Ginsberg)? I wrote down what she said about hermother so I could get a feel for it: her mom loved her, was always caringly following through and being there to help if need be, on what she, the mom, had given her daughter to do. And she repeated endlessly, words of strength and encouragement - over and over, until she died when Ruth was graduating from high school. So justimagine instead of seeing your mom be drunk, or beaten by your dad, or silent when you were being mistreated: constant words and feelings and scenes of disrespect, anger, fear, and pain that never gets talked about, resolved and changed, you had what you needed to feel that who you are is worthwhile and loveable, every day? At the veryleast, you might just pick people who needed help and who had enough inner strength to benefit and pay it forward or at the least NOT pick someone whom you knew was too much to take on. Knowing when to say "no"is just as important as knowing when to say "yes." Right now I'm living that very challenging lesson, and may I come out with the right answers that work for me, which may be different answers than someone else on their journey.

It’s a classic with a positive message

On rime good quality

I don't know whether professional reviewers are jaded with life or just naturally cynical but they seem to dismiss far too many films as overly sentimental or contrived. "Pay It Forward" is an emotional film, it will make you cry but that does not make it corny. I am not suggesting you have to open your heart and close your mind to enjoy this film. All you need do is not close yourself off to your soul, because Mimi Leder's film has enough soul of its own for your's to recognize.Based on a book by Catherine Ryan Hyde, which was unpublished when the script was written, "Pay It Forward", has now become a worldwide movement; and after seeing the film, that should come as no surprise. The story has no hint of religious denomination, nor does it try to preach at us but it nonetheless sends us out of the theatre wanting to do good, to try and make the world a little [better] for someone. It manages this miracle by taking a simple plot and peopling it with characters that are memorable, flawed and likable.The cast is top class. Haley Joel Osment plays Trevor McKinney, the originator of the pay-it-forward idea. While the impact of his performance was not as great as it was in Sixth Sense, I think we can attribute that to higher expectations. Helen Hunt did make a big impression. As Trevor's Mother, Arlene, she makes Erin Brockovich look like a socialite. She is an alcoholic, single mother who works two Vegas jobs to pay the rent. In her spare time she makes and breaks promises to her son and occasionally allows her "Ex" back into the house, for a little drinking and abuse.Trevor's seventh grade sociology teacher, Eugene Simonet, is played by Kevin Spacey. He is one of those quiet, thoughtful, caring teachers that sometimes inspire their students to great heights. At the same time, he is a man who is self-conscious about a disfiguring facial burn, to the point where he has settled for a life with little social interaction at all. He has his classroom and his tidy little home and his love of learning. Mr Simonet has long ago given up the hope for a lager life because hope grows more and more painful the longer it goes unrealized.On the first day of school, Mr Simonet sets his class an extra-credit assignment for the year. They must, "Think of an idea to change our world - and put it into action!" Trevor takes this challenge to heart and develops an idea, which he soon tries to put into action. He plans to help three people. It must be something big, that they could not do for themselves. Those three are then encouraged to pay it forward by helping three other people, instead of trying to return the favor. In this way, Trevor hopes that the idea, and its good acts, will spread and grow. Sadly, he fails to successfully help even one person, despite pouring every effort into the project. But what he doesn't know is that he has helped more than it seems, and his idea is more infectious than he could have hoped.We get to explore the cascade effects of pay-it-forward through the eyes of a freelance reporter, Chris Chandler, played with casual enthusiasm by Jay Mohr. At the start of the film we witness him receiving his helping hand and its pay-it-forward injunction. His interest stimulated, Chris sets off to track down the source of the movement. As he backtracks the trail, we switch back and forward in time, following Trevor as he tries to make his idea fly, all the time knowing, through Chris, that it must succeed.This is a powerful story. The idea itself is wonderful but as a film, it rides on the fact that all of the major characters go through significant personal changes. In a way, Trevor is a modern day messiah. Where he goes, people repent and recover the best parts of themselves. He is not a grandiose figure, just a young boy who has a lot of faith, passion and persistence. We can all learn a lot from this film and remember, if it does affect you deeply, pay it forward.

Actors are great, but what is the purpose and meaning? Still questing …

Lots of lessons

Arrived on time, and in good order. Was given as a gift and was told they enjoyed the movie.

This movie will have you in tears and leave you feeling good afterwards. It makes you want to do something good for someone else who can never pay you back.

Brought this for a friend as we had all taken part in a Pay it Forward challenge and I had seen this and thought it perfect. It made both my friend and her husband cry. Its a beautiful film

Great movie, except the ending.

Great dvd!

As expected

Didn't notice was "import" - couldn't play!