Pay It Forward (2000) - Synopsis

Pay It Forward (2000)

Everything in social studies teacher Eugene Simonet's (Kevin Spacey) life is in order -- every shirt, every pencil, every person in its proper place. To keep the surface placid means never having to go deeper. And no one and nothing in his life has ever asked him to.

Arlene McKinney (Helen Hunt) is a single mother hanging on by her fingertips, working two jobs, and struggling to raise her son, Trevor (Haley Joel Osment). She is trying to give him a new life, but in her absence she is losing him.

Eugene gives Trevor's class an assignment: look at the world around you and fix what you don't like. But can you fix people?

Two-time Academy Award-winner Kevin Spacey (American Beauty (1999), Usual Suspects, The (1995)), Academy Award-winner Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets (1997)) and Academy Award nominee Haley Joel Osment (Sixth Sense, The (1999)) star in "Pay It Forward." Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Bel-Air Entertainment, presents the film, which is directed by Mimi Leder (Deep Impact (1998)) from a screenplay by Leslie Dixon (Thomas Crown Affair, The (1999), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)), based on the novel of the same name by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

The film also stars Jay Mohr (Go (1999), Jerry Maguire (1996)), James Caviezel (Thin Red Line, The (1998)), Jon Bon Jovi (U-571 (2000)), and legendary film and television star Angie Dickinson ("Police Woman", Ocean's Eleven (1960)). "Pay It Forward" is produced by Bel-Air Entertainment's Steven Reuther (Pretty Woman (1990)) and Tapestry Films' Peter Abrams and Robert L. Levy (She's All That (1999)). Executive producers are Mary McLaglen and Jonathan Treisman. Oliver Stapleton (Cider House Rules, The (1999)) is the director of photography and two-time Oscar winner Leslie Dilley (Raiders of The Lost Ark (1981), Star Wars (1977)) is the production designer. Academy Award nominee David Rosenbloom, A. C. E. (Insider, The (1999)) is the editor. Thomas Newman (Erin Brockovich (2000)) composed the score.