Pay It Forward delivers a powerful message and standout performances, particularly from Haley Joel Osment, but its daunting and emotionally intense tone may not appeal to everyone, detracting from its potential as a meaningful and impactful story. Grading: C+

Such a phenomenal message. The performances were terrific. I honestly feel message was too hard to hear for the people who gave bad reviews. It's a hard thing to do, to put others first, and I can understand why people would nit pick parts of the movie to avoid having to actually open up and listen to it.

What an amazing movie. That damn ending!! Spacey Hunt and Osment give brilliant performances. Tim Treakle

I'd managed to consign this atrocity to the darkest wastelands of my mind until my life decided it may be a useful tool for teaching our child the value of being nice. It's a sickening exercise in emotional exploitation, the nausea inducing nature of which can't even be saved by some very decent actors ying their best. Utter drivel.

Kevin was wonderful in this movie. I had so much compassion for him.

Touching story, but didn't quite fell it. It was a bit simple but good.

one of the best movies ever made, the critics are wrong as usual

Totally entertaining movie! Rotten Tomatos get it wrong about the ending. The candlelight memorial at the movie's conclusion portrays the profound effect the ‘Pay It Forward' idea has had on the lives of so many.

Pay It Forward: Nice Idea – Disappointing Execution Hollywood is on display here, sadly, mostly in its shallow glory. This one starts off well but too quickly dumbs itself down with a superficial veneer of emotional manipulation. Spacey and Hunt, while convincing, seem somewhat miss cast as a school teacher and single 'recovering' alcoholic mum - with her son playing cupid in classic sitcom-style ‘seriousness'. While the movie-makers have good intentions in attempting to include some ‘worthy' causes, they sadly end up not doing full justice to any of them. In an attempt to add ‘depth' to the often labored, clichéd situations, it feels as if the producers have tacked on a tragic ending that stretches the running time and emotionalism beyond its welcome. Those looking for some sort of a message may find something pleasing or even inspiring, others may be left wading through the messy editing structure, and some heavy-handed plot devices. For a movie largely about kids, it's not a particularly good one for them to see – another good idea wasted in Hollywoodisms.

Amazing movie with a powerful message!

Boring and lame. Something your stepdad who fancies himself an expert on Mark Twain and the Titanic would think is profound.

Emotionally captivating that will leave you in tears by the end

Heart warming movie with great message about helping others

The premise of the movie is quite inspiring and original but the movie itself comes off as meandering due to its disjointed unfocused plot where they bite more than they can chew. Some of the dialogue is unbearably sophomoric and puerile. However, unlike many of the modern movies, the movie does not play it safe and the writer was willing to make some bold decisions and take some risks, which is worth mentioning. Finally, I have to say this movie is another reminder of the immortality of Spacey's artistic legacy and the vacuum left by his exile.

Probably cheesy now but I watched this when I was younger in school and remember liking it 2.8

Summary: A young, thoughtful boy named Trevor gets an unusual assignment to change the world for the better. Unlike him classmates, he goes all out. He decides to "pay it forward", starting by helping a man experiencing homelessness. Takeaways: Trevor lives a lonely life since his father is out of the picture and his mother is struggling to make ends meet. Based on the book by Catherine Ryan Hyde, this movie highlights our individualistic society and the power of each person to change someone else's day or life.

Incredibly well done and produced, Pay It Forward is exciting, dramatic and sad, with great roles and a hat-taking script.

Well worth the effort, this film may be a little rough around some edges, but overall is not only entertaining but insightful, too. And it's nice to see Kevin Spacey before he turned out to be some sort of bête noir, is it?

Despite the critics' bad approval, "Pay it forward" delivers a strong message and it's well executed, except the fact that the ending shouldn't have been ending in a sad tone, that's why I'm not going to give it a full 5 star, but overall this movie has a great story and strong performances.

Nothing more than pure melodrama.