Pay It Forward

Pay It Forward (2000)

  • 40% of critics liked it
    (128 reviews)

  • 82% of users liked it
    (185,920 ratings)

A young boy stumbles upon a simple way to change the world in this drama. Trevor (Haley Joel Osment) is a bright 11-year-old boy who comes from a troubled home; his mother Arlene (Helen Hunt) is an alcoholic trying to hold down two jobs to support her son, while Trevor's father Jon Bon Jovi)… More

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PG-13,
Directed By
Written By
Leslie Dixon, Catherine Ryan Hyde
Genres
Drama, Romance
In Theaters
Oct 20, 2000 Wide
Warner Bros. Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune

    Spacey and Hunt create interestingly layered characters who are hiding parts of themselves from themselves. And come Oscar time, Osment once again may be saying, 'I see tuxedoed people.'

  • Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

    Less a worthy achievement than a nice try.

  • Peter Rainer, New York Magazine

    With its smorgasbord of moralizings, Pay It Forward is a confusing welter of sentiment.

  • Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

    Not since Gump has there been such a pandering, faux-virtuous package of populist pap for Hollywood to shove in the faces of electioneering politicos and say: Look, we don't just market unwholesome swill to families, we market wholesome swill, too.

  • Jay Carr, Boston Globe

    It's carried to an amazing degree by its performances.

Read all 14 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Anthony L


    A nice story but way to heavy handed and with gringeworthy performances. Much like her other films, director Mimi Leder concentrates on the less important factors of the story and lets the 'message' slip into the ether. Spacey and Hunt however, only have themselves to blame… More

  • Anatoliy D


    want to see it

  • Conner R


    A really interesting movie with some great performances, but I feel like it was overly preachy, gimmicky and dramatic. I like the message to a degree, but the way it was handled made it seem like this was a public service announcement rather than a movie.

  • KJ P


    This had a great touchiness to it, but in the end, the characters fall flat, but it doesn't matter, because the story is soo great, that it could hold any cast together! Great film!

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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