Beyond Oscar bait – more like one of those ludicrously bright fishing lures that turn a pond into a glistening discotheque – Pay It Forward shamelessly caters to American cinema’s top award both with its Oscar-friendly cast (Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey, Haley
Joel Osment) and in its blatant emotional manipulation (there’s a death here that’s nothing short of despicable). The film centers around an 11-year-old (Osment) who starts a chain letter of good deeds, but Pay It Forward is only trying to do a favor for itself. What a relief that it didn’t work.
