Pay it forward (2000), is one of the few movies that have affected me the most. It’s a movie about making the world a better place and it comes from just an idea, an idea that’s a movement in the film, and a movement that doesn’t necessarily have to be movie magic but it can be real too. It’s inspiring and makes you want to bring out the best you.
When 11 year old Trevor Mckinney (Haley Jowl Osment) is asked by his social studies teacher, Mr. Simonet (Kevin Spacey), to come up with an idea to change the world and put it into action. Trevor really takes the assignment seriously and ends up inventing a movement called Pay it Forward, which is paying back a favor in advance for 3 people, and then asking them to do it for 3 other people. Ideally the movement would multiply with everyone doing good things for each other thus making the world a better place.
What Trevor when goes through in the movie affected me firstly because I was his same exact age when I was the movie, so I had that mediate connection to it, and for a kid, it’s such an innocent way of thinking about wanting to change the world, with no idea of how hard it actually is. I remember thinking when I was watching the movie what a good idea it was to make the world a better place, that I should tell my mom about it, that I should try it out too and spread the word. But then I realize this is what the director was doing with this movie, he had turned his idea into a movie so that a lot of people can watch and if they wanted to they would act on this. And this is what I like about the movie and why it’s been one my favorite movies that isn’t sci-fi or action adventure full with visual effects.
Nice write up. Yeah, although the movie could be cheesy at times, the message was pure. Definitely a movie with an unapologetic positive force which really proved you could affect the way people think with good filmmaking / storytelling.
ReplyDeleteI still hear people mention this as one of Spacey's better movies and there is little to not like about it . . .