Authored By Kenny Le
Pay It Forward is a movie based on doing random acts of kindness in hopes of changing the world to make it a better place. Trevor is a different kid from the other students in Mr. Simonet’s class. He is not awkward, but is different in a way he does not act as a kid in most scenes. Trevor’s perspective on life in this movie is so mature and real. Pay It Forward has elements like realistic acting, character personality, and themes.
Pay It Forward is an extra credit assignment done by Trevor (Haley Joel Osment),a seventh grader, in his Social Studies class. It was assigned by Trevor’s Social Studies teacher, Mr. Simonet (Kevin Spacey). Trevor lives with only his mom, Arlene (Helen Hunt), who is an alcoholic. Trevor’s dad (Jon Bon Jovi) left the family due to his abusive nature and addiction to alcohol.To “Pay It Forward” is to to give out a really big favor that the person you are giving it to can’t do, and in return the person has to pay the favor forward to a different person instead of pay it back, so the cycle keeps going.
The acting done in this movie is great. Seeing Trevor’s mom, Arlene, drinking until she falls asleep then waking up with make-up on from the night before is believable. The facial features displayed on her face of a struggling single mom seems so real it is believeable. Kevin Spacey’s character is emotionally dead in the beginning, but soon later starts to become human again by having an emotional breakdown for Trevor to having feelings for Arlene. Trevor’s acting makes it seem like he is an adult trapped in a child’s body with all of the struggles he has been through. The only downside is the amount of influence a child has on his or her teacher to create a chain reaction of positive acts. It brings up the question does a child really have that kind insight to persuade an adult to change their life for the better? The meaning of the words that come out of Trevor’s mouth at the end of the interview makes it seem that Trevor just about knows everything about the feelings and behavior of humans, but these actors and actresses really bring out the tears with the emotions they display in their acting.
The character personalities of each character was done well. Arlene is a struggling mom, Trevor being a kid stuck in world where he sees things falling apart, Mr. Simonet breaking out of his past struggle, etc. Everything just seemed to transition well from one good deed to another. With the journalist who goes on a mission to find the creator of the movement “Pay It Forward” receiving a Jaguar from an old man to talking to a thug who understands the meaning of paying good deeds forward instead of back. The sequence of each act of kindness scene was easily picked up on, therefore it was understandable how each person received their favor.
The main theme from this film is that positivity leads to positive things. Pay It Forward does a great job showing this with the random acts of kindness, but what really brought this film to reality were the scenes of sorrow and pain. The sad and overwhelming scenes of the actors and actresses for viewers to watch, but it brings back reality of a non-perfect world.
Pay It Forward is a movie based on doing random acts of kindness in hopes of changing the world to make it a better place. Trevor is a different kid from the other students in Mr. Simonet’s class. He is not awkward, but is different in a way he does not act as a kid in most scenes. Trevor’s perspective on life in this movie is so mature and real. Pay It Forward has elements like realistic acting, character personality, and themes.
Pay It Forward is an extra credit assignment done by Trevor (Haley Joel Osment),a seventh grader, in his Social Studies class. It was assigned by Trevor’s Social Studies teacher, Mr. Simonet (Kevin Spacey). Trevor lives with only his mom, Arlene (Helen Hunt), who is an alcoholic. Trevor’s dad (Jon Bon Jovi) left the family due to his abusive nature and addiction to alcohol.To “Pay It Forward” is to to give out a really big favor that the person you are giving it to can’t do, and in return the person has to pay the favor forward to a different person instead of pay it back, so the cycle keeps going.
The acting done in this movie is great. Seeing Trevor’s mom, Arlene, drinking until she falls asleep then waking up with make-up on from the night before is believable. The facial features displayed on her face of a struggling single mom seems so real it is believeable. Kevin Spacey’s character is emotionally dead in the beginning, but soon later starts to become human again by having an emotional breakdown for Trevor to having feelings for Arlene. Trevor’s acting makes it seem like he is an adult trapped in a child’s body with all of the struggles he has been through. The only downside is the amount of influence a child has on his or her teacher to create a chain reaction of positive acts. It brings up the question does a child really have that kind insight to persuade an adult to change their life for the better? The meaning of the words that come out of Trevor’s mouth at the end of the interview makes it seem that Trevor just about knows everything about the feelings and behavior of humans, but these actors and actresses really bring out the tears with the emotions they display in their acting.
The character personalities of each character was done well. Arlene is a struggling mom, Trevor being a kid stuck in world where he sees things falling apart, Mr. Simonet breaking out of his past struggle, etc. Everything just seemed to transition well from one good deed to another. With the journalist who goes on a mission to find the creator of the movement “Pay It Forward” receiving a Jaguar from an old man to talking to a thug who understands the meaning of paying good deeds forward instead of back. The sequence of each act of kindness scene was easily picked up on, therefore it was understandable how each person received their favor.
The main theme from this film is that positivity leads to positive things. Pay It Forward does a great job showing this with the random acts of kindness, but what really brought this film to reality were the scenes of sorrow and pain. The sad and overwhelming scenes of the actors and actresses for viewers to watch, but it brings back reality of a non-perfect world.