Pay It Forward review

Did you know that the word 'subtle' doesn't appear in American dictionaries? It certainly isn't a word director Mimi Leder is familiar with. Words she is familiar with however include, sledgehammer, crack, to, a, nut. Although not necessarily in that order.

From its absurd and disconnected opening sequence through to its absurd and mawkish finale Pay It Forward is an overwrought melodrama that wallows in its own self importance, deluding itself that it is somehow profound.

Kevin Spacey plays the erudite, but socially inept teacher Eugene Simonet, whose badly scarred face is the surface evidence of what is clearly greater inner damage. In his first day at his new school he sets the class of 11-year-olds a daunting project for the year: "Think of an idea to change the world - and put it into action". Armed with this task, the lonesome and curious pupil Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) goes in search of an answer. What he comes up with is "pay it forward". If someone does you a favour, then rather than pay it back, you pay it forward to three others, who in turn pay it forward to three more and so on, thus the pyramid of altruism will quickly extend beyond their confines of Las Vegas.

It's an admirable sentiment, but one that is revealed even before the opening credits roll and is then bludgeoned to death with increasing crassness for the next two hours. Young Trevor's good deeds include helping an itinerant back on his feet and trying to set up his alcoholic, cocktail waitressing mother Arlene (Helen Hunt) with his teacher.

Arlene, who has had to bring up her son on her own following the departure of her drunken abusive husband (Jon Bon Jovi), has a hard time breaching Eugene's stubborn emotional barrier. Meanwhile, in a series of subplots that seem superfluous and distracting, a reporter (Jay Mohr), and recipient of a grand and baffling gesture of good will committed in the name of "pay it forward", goes in search of the motto's origins.

Both Spacey and Hunt do their best to rise above the overbearing schmaltz and gaping flaws, but burdened by inhabiting two characters with more baggage than Louis Vuitton and equally unpleasant, even they are unable to salvage much from the wreckage. Haley Joel Osment, who was astonishing in The Sixth Sense, repeats the same performance which only seems like a trick this time rather than a gift.

Pay It Forward sets out its stall so blatantly from the outset, leaving few surprises. By the end, having navigated its way through increasingly clumsy plot twists, there is only one place left to go. When you start out shouting, you have to keep getting louder in order to get your message across until finally you're screaming, which is what I was doing by the final scene as I rushed towards the exit and relief.