YSH “PAY IT FORWARD MOVIE REVIEW” It’s his first day at a Las Vegas middle school, an 11-year-old Trevor begins with an introduction to his tightly wound and horribly burned teacher, Eugene Simonet. While the boy’s white-trash alcoholic mother, Arlene, is too busy working double shifts as a cocktail waitress. Trevor finds inspiration from Mr. Simonet’s first assignment: Think of a way to make the world a better place. Our sensitive boy genius strikes inspiration with the idea to Pay It Forward.
It goes something like this, one person begins by doing one major favor for someone else. Instead of paying the favor back, that person then does three major favors for three other people, and then they do the same. The idea is that even if some people slack off, the chain of good can continue to grow, it’s not such a bad idea. The movie’s website even offers up a list of charities to help you out. However, the quality of a lesson or idea does not automatically justify the manner in which it is delivered.
The film does express the fact that, even if you don’t know if the favor actually did any good, it’s important that you make the attempt. Pay It Forward is a rare movie with a noble story of kindness, forgiveness, healing and the courage to do one’s part in making this world a better place to live in. It redefines the role of a teacher and parents, and their influence in a child’s life. It also exposes a lot of issues like poverty, drugs, alcohol, violence, domestic abuse, and many others making it unsuitable for young kids.
To realistically portray the different situations, there is offensive language, theft, stabbing, a sexual relationship between Eugene and Arlene is implied, and she is shown in skimpy outfits. But above all, Pay It Forward shows, not karma as some misguided critics deduce that the biblical principle “love others as you love yourself” actually pays off. This is a must see movie for teachers, parents and children 14 years old and above.
Pay It Forward is a fine, honest tale that gives full respect to the pain of yearning and the power of hope. This movie is sappy, unbelievable, and utterly conventional in design. The movie intercuts between the predictable progress of the romance and the uncertain progress of Trevor’s pay-it-forward scheme. Pay It Forward is really a sentimental, inspirational brand of fantasy. This movie has a realistic sense of people’s failings and it recognizes how hard it is to turn a life around.
I’m carried through Pay It Forward by Trevor’s emotional development, his concern for people and his innate goodness and growing courage. This movie dares to point us in a different direction. It boldly reveals that kindness and putting others first are acts of moral beauty. It concretely proclaims that each person can make a difference in the world by doing good. And it reveals that although we’ll probably never know the effects of our acts of compassion, that’s okay. All of the world’s religions point out that the reward is in the act itself.