May 31 2008
Pay It Forward - the movie
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I watched this inspiring movie with my 13 year old son the other night. Loved it except for the lame ending. The kid in the film has a brilliant idea to change the world by helping 3 people and you do not expect to be repaid, but instead they are asked to “pay it forward” - serve or help someone else down the road. Beautiful concept and movie.
The concept of HUB, or Humanity Unites Brilliance is similar in that you are invited to share this wonderful membership opportunity with 3 others, who share with 3 others etc. Yes, it has a MLM component but if there was ever a great reason for MLM, this is it. And it’s based on integrated humanitarian aid (mostly to Africa just now) and personal empowerment training from the likes of Jean Houston and Michael Beckwith and Mark Victor Hanson. The core vision being to transform the consciousness of the planet to create a world that truly does work for everyone. Oh yes, and you can also make a lot of money with HUB. For more information, see: www.hubheaven.com
Factoid: What if you gave a message to 2 people and they immediately told 2 people and they etc etc. How long would it take to reach the entire world? the answer: 33 days! how cool is that! How connected are we?
I mostly agree with this review on the movie:
PAY IT FORWARD is a feel-good family story about a social studies teacher, Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey), who challenges his 11-year-old students to come up with an idea that will change the world. Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) decides to step up to the plate. His idea is a game called ‘pay it forward.’ In the game, every time somebody does a favor for you, you ‘pay it forward’ to three other people. Surprisingly, the idea seems to work, helping his teacher to come out of his shell and reveal a dark past, and bringing his mother, Arlene McKinney (Helen Hunt)–who works two jobs to keep their household afloat–new freedom.
Movie Reviews:a movie review by: David Nusair
Based on a popular novel, Pay it Forward is incredibly non-cynical (and in this day and age, that’s really something).
Haley Joel Osment stars as Trevor, a shy kid just starting the seventh grade. During his first social studies class, his new teacher (Kevin Spacey) assigns an unusual project - he tells his students that, by the end of the semester, an attempt should be made to change the world. Spacey is just expecting them to set up recycling programs and stop littering - but Trevor has bigger plans. His “pay it forward” idea is based on the concept of showing kindness to strangers. You do a favor for three strangers, those three strangers do three more favors, and so on. One of Trevor’s own favors is to his mother (played by Helen Hunt), who he feels has been alone for far too long. He sets her up with Spacey’s character, a burn victim who’s never let anyone close.
Pay it Forward is consistently entertaining - though occasionally marred by heavy-handedness - anchored by excellent performances (even Jon Bon Jovi, who has a small role as Hunt’s ex-wife, is good here). Spacey, in particular, is especially good, playing the scarred - emotionally and physically - teacher that has lived a certain routine for so long, that when a change (no matter that it’s a good one) comes along, his first impulse is to shun it. Osment - whose restrained performance in The Sixth Sense outshone even Bruce Willis - is once again quite good as the ambitious young kid who’s unusual idea eventually turns him into a martyr. The only real drawback to this otherwise well done film is the ending. It’s needlessly depressing, and essentially ruins all the progress the main characters made throughout the film.
