Pay it Foward (2000)

MIMDB score: 7.0
Current IMDB score: 7.1
Director: Mimi Leder
Main Actors you care about: Kevin Spacey, Haley Joel Osment, and Helen Hunt

Why I liked it: When I watched it when it came out it sort of changed my life.  I know the phrase is used lightly and maybe it didn't really change my life but it made me feel better about doing good things.  Since then I have done a lot of things only in light of helping others because the idea of paying it forward.  Helping others in hopes of making the world that much better for them.  If I watched a movie like this today I would probably find the movie cheesy.  Because of that it should only be watched once really which is why it's a 7.0.

What stands out: Kevin Spacey and Haley Joel Osment both do really well.  A lot of good scenes between them two.  Teacher-student relationships seem to be thought provoking in movies.  It's an pretty inspirational story.

What I would change: I think him dying at the end is over the top and cliche.  It happens to often in kids movies I feel like.  I know that deaths like this happen in life but I feel they are being a little pushy with the feeling.  It doesn't add much for the people that like the movie.  It pushes people who aren't really into it into not liking it more.  I would have done something else with the climax of the movie.  That being said, the final scene is so sad and good.

Favorite Line(s)/Scene:
The scene where Haley Joel Osment ask Spacey why his face is like in the school parking lot.  It kind of makes me really happy.  Spacey thinks Haley Joel Osment is just asking to go joke around with the other kids about it.  In reality he really is concerned and cares about what happened to Spacey though.  Spacey has to worry about his face every time he looks at it or remembers that it's like that. So when another person in the many persons he's come across asks him about it he is sure it's just another joke on him deal.  When Haley walks past the kids he realizes there are genuinely people that care about him.  Those moments of realization are an awesome part of life.

Eugene: I know what I'm talking about, Arlene! My father got down on his knees and begged my mother. And my mother,s he always took him back. I never understood it. she'd cover up the bruises and the cuts and she'd take him back. Because he begged and he cried. And now you ask me, you ask me what happened after he came back.
Arley: I...
Eugene: No! Go on! You said you wanted to know what happened to me, now ask me!
Arley: I don't like this...
Eugene: Did he hurt you, Eugene? Ask me!
Arley: Did he hurt you?
Eugene: [shakes his head] Not for long. By 13 I was gone. i ran away. But I missed her so... I had to go back and see her. So one night I did. Now, ask me what happened. What happened that night you came back, Eugene?
Arley: What happened?
Eugene: He was there. Drunk. As usual. Only this time I wasn't the same. I was 16 years old and I was no longer afraid of him. And when I looked him in the eyes and told him if he ever touched her again I would kill him, he knew. He knew that he would never exist for me again. And I'm standing in front of the house. I'm yelling, screaming for her to come out. I'm telling her she doesn't have to take it anymore. She really doesn't. She can come with me now. I don't even see it. He hits me in the side of the head with a two-by-four and I'm bleeding from my ear. And then he's dragging me. He's dragging me behind the house into the garage. And then he's gone. A minute... five minutes... I don't know. And then he's back. And he's wetting me down. He's wetting me down and I don't understand. I don't understand why water... should smell so bad. I don't understand. And then I see it. I see... this... this gas can. This red gas can from his truck.
[Crying]
Eugene: And he looks at me one last time... and he lights a match. And the last thing I remember, I'll never forget it, were his eyes. His eyes because they were filled with this immense... satisfaction.
Arley: [Crying] I'm so sorry...
Eugene: Don't! Don't! Don't tell me how sorry you are for me! Tell me how you're going to stop that happening to Trevor!
Arley: Ricky would never do that!
Eugene: Oh, Jesus, Arlene! He doesn't have to. All he has to do is not love him.

It's a powerful scene.  I hope a lot of people in abusive relationships connected with and listen to what he's saying.  GET THE FUCK OUT! NO EXCUSES!  There's a way better life out there than the one with your abusive spouse/significant other.

The end scene is pretty heartbreaking.  The song is beautiful.  I used to listen to it on repeat when this came out.  When they zoom out of the house and there's just car lights and car lights for days it's makes you feel so happy in a way.

Similar Movies/TV Shows: Amélie: "It's better to help people than garden gnomes." All the kids movies where someone dies at the end: My Girl, Bridge to Terabithia, Simon Birch, and Walk to Remember,  There's probably more as this is a too common of an ending/climax in movies.

"Side" note: A popular wrestler at the time Goldberg, is in a poster in the kids room.  He's my favorite wrestler as well! . . . . I'm lying.  I'm pretty sure Andre the Giant is my favorite wrestler.  I feel like he's a good guy in person even though he played the villain in a lot of his matches.  I've actually seen him perform when I was like six. It was kind of awesome.