angelprods

This film is overblown, predictable, pretentious, and hollow to its core. The settings are faithful to the era but self-conscious in their magnification by prolonged exposure. The lingering over artifacts stops the action and cloys almost as much as the empty dialogue. Tom Hanks seems to be sleepwalking much as Bruce Willis did in Hart's War. Tom, you can't give depth to a character simply by making your face blank! The content did not warrant the histrionic acting by Paul Newman. This is a dud wrapped in an atomic bomb casing.

This film is a cacophany of false notes, most notable among them the casting of Liv Tyler, with script, direction and even cinematography cascading immediately behind that gross error. I suppose a two dimensional performance in a piece with no depth at all is still an accomplishment, but it doesn't save the movie, to my mind at least, from onrushing oblivion.

Although the basic concept is an excellent one, the execution is not. In the hands of a Frank Capra, it would have been a smash. The plot goes seriously off track when so much time is spent with just one or two of the beneficiaries of the child's plan to better the world. Moreover, it's hard to believe the other characters have actually "paid it (or anything else) forward" because we see the child's do good attempts go awry more often than not. The audience, itself, is then required to make gigantic leaps forward to fill the gaps left by the writer. The ending left me feeling manipulated because I had no rooting interest in the particular relationship leading to it.

Despite these fundamental flaws, Haley Joel Osment, Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt do wonders with the material given them. Still, with a growing list of contenders for best acting in pictures that are also excellent, I don't see much reason to nominate them for an award, with the possible exception of a special tribute to Haley Joel Osment. In my opinion, he should have

received an award last year for his excellent performance in Sixth Sense. On the other hand, Pay It Forward's director, Mimi Leder, should receive a reprimand for misusing the talent at her disposal.