Although I much prefer the grownup version of Haley Joel Osment to the pouty little prick from Sixth Sense, Helen Hunt as Arlene, Jim Caviezel (Jerry) and Kevin Spacey are brilliant in this movie. I re-watched this recently, and it’s nothing if not entertaining. I love the Utopian theme, but it could have been far more effective, had there been somewhat scientific scriptwriting – to further develop the conceptual elements of Utopianism.
However, the structure of this film is quite solid, with two juxtaposed narratives – the reporter following the ‘pay it forward’ story. And the child trying to make a difference and get on with life as a middle school student – amidst the bullying and other negative elements of school and home life which move him to suffer quietly; at least until Spacey’s Mr Simonet gives him a reason to speak up and actually do something about it.
TV movie in its approach, crap movie that tons of people love to re-watch in effect.
READ SPOILER
Trevor’s mother is an alcoholic.
Arlene works two jobs to support their home and to give her son a good life and education. The jobs she has are not glamorous – waitress at a ‘tittie bar’ and she also works at a casino. Neither are they high-paying, so despite her natural intelligence, she is quite insecure about her perceived ‘poor white trash’ nature.
The romantic opportunity between Hunt and Spacey sizzles – egged on by her boy, Trevor. Both of them are insecure, for very different reasons. But they have a few things in common, one of the biggest being Trevor himself.
The main problem I have with this film is the story, it’s far too simple and doesn’t get very deep into any of the elements – the Utopian social science concept, the drama of the home abuse vs alcoholism and romance, or the struggles of our young hero.
The only part of the story which is well-developed is the journey of the reporter and this strength is mostly structural. They have given us a quirky ‘play with time,’ where both sides of the story meet up in the middle.
The tragedy at the end is effective, but would have been moreso if the aforementioned fixes had been applied to the script.
Despite these creative lapses, I have a lot of love for the performances – Hunt’s half-broken mother and Spacey’s well-broken teacher are both excellent portrayals, though we don’t have much time to get to know them, through the story we know them well enough to feel for them.
Osment’s child prodigy is also a decent performance, but I still don’t like him. He’s far too innocent. I don’t see him as weak, merely fake – I don’t believe that anyone can be that good (even at that age) – without, through the story, convincing me that he really is; it’s his realness that I distrust, that drives me to severely dislike the character. Also this is a character which he plays repeatedly in all of his childhood roles, without ever providing depth of reason.
the joy of eating and the folly of thinking 