What would you expect if you put together a cast featuring an
Oscar-winning actor in Kevin Spacey, an Oscar-winning actress in Helen
Hunt and an Oscar-nominated actor in little-but-extremely-talented Haley Joel Osment ? An
Oscar winning movie perhaps? Well, things don't always turn out the way
we want them to, right?No, it doesn't.
Young Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment), troubled by his mother's(Helen Hunt) alcoholism and fears of
his abusive but absent father, is caught up by an intriguing assignment
from his new social studies teacher, Mr. Simonet(Kevin Spacey). The assignment: think
of something to change the world and put it into action. Trevor conjures
the notion of paying a favor not back, but forward--repaying good deeds
not with payback, but with new good deeds done to three new people.
Trevor's efforts to make good on his idea bring a revolution not only in
the lives of himself, his mother and his physically and emotionally
scarred teacher, but in those of an ever-widening circle of people completely unknown to him.
Great concept, top-notch acting and a nice concept but this film ultimately
fails because it tags convenient situations on to its second half and
gives us one of the most uninspiring endings that I have seen in years.Why anyone would think that this finale "completes" this picture in any way is beyond me! the film's horrible conclusion also amplified my disappointment in
a story which seemed to be aiming for so much, while ultimately achieving so little.
The movie also ran on for too long with not enough time spent on the
most interesting aspect of the film,the whole concept of "pay it
forward". The idea itself was captivating, but just seemed to become
more of a backdrop to the sentimental and emotional outpours in the foreground as
the movie moved onwards. I really loved the "pay it forward" moments
between people and would've liked to have seen more of them in the film,
perhaps even developed further. And it's all really too bad because the
talent assembled here is as good as they come. Spacey delivers, as does
Hunt, while Osment proves to everyone that The Sixth Sense was no
fluke. But the script.......what the heck happened to the script?
All in all, a misfire, a decent attempt at reaching for that something big
but coming up short. Catch it on DVD or cable for the strong performances and
try to figure out yourself when exactly things started going wrong in
this film.The underlying theme is unique but the treatment and the ending leaves much to be desired.
WORTHY MENTIONS
Watch out for a small blink-and-you miss role played by Jon Bon Jovi.
The Jaguar owner is played by director Mimi Leder's husband, Gary Werntz. His character's asthmatic daughter is their real-life daughter, Hannah Leder.
MY VERDICT
*** - An extra star for the concept
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