Pay it Forward

Pay it Forward (2000)

8 corrected entries

(4 votes)

Correction: The interview does indeed take place at the LA county jail, not Las Vegas. In the film, the reporter begins his search in LA when the attorney gives him the new Jaguar. This leads to the hospital scene in LA when the homey pulls the pistol and admonishes the nurse to attend to the lawyer's asthmatic daughter before him. This is when the movie moves to Vegas, where the reporter then travels to meet the old bag lady who rescued the homey from the cops.

Corrected entry: When the children first go to school, the teacher says "welcome to 7th grade." Later, he asks them a question and Trevor McKinney says "because we're eleven." Children entering 7th grade in the United States would be at least 12 (a child must be at least five years old in September to enter kindergarten that year, 6 to enter 1st grade, etc.). There may be some exceptions - a child who skipped a grade could be 11 though it's more likely to find a child held back a year at 13 - but since he said "we're," it could be assumed that most of the children are the same age, i.e. 12 going on 13.

Correction: Actually, it isn't uncommon at all for a child to be 11 when first entering seventh grade, and without skipping a grade. For example, my birthday is in October, so I was eleven at the beginning of my seventh grade school year. Many kids are the same. Also, someone is most likely to refer to themselves, even when saying "we're" and he was eleven at that point, so it would be a character mistake if anything, not a movie mistake.

Correction: He does pick up both bags, if you look closely before he walks off, he has both bags in his arms. However, he may have picked them both up at the same time.

Corrected entry: Near the start when Haley Joel Osment first meets his new teacher, there is a close up of his face when Mr. Simonet is speaking. It is around when he tells the class their year long assignment. In the background there is a kid from the class mouthing the exact words that Mr. Simonet is saying.

Correction: I don't think the kid in the background is mouthing the same words, I think he is just smacking his lips, or maybe talking to another child. It's too out of focus to tell what he's saying exactly, but it doesnt go along with the words being spoken.

Corrected entry: In the end of the film, where Haley Joe Osment's interview is shown, you can see the wise words Mr. Simonet wrote on the black board in the beginning, but erased in the middle of the film. Suddenly it's back in exact the same place.

Correction: It was rewritten by Mr Simonet for the benefit of the TV interview.

Corrected entry: When the boy is sat on the white bench asking the teacher why he hasn't called his mum and that he needs to be there when his dad returns. You see the boy drop the pencil he was using to cross out the 3 names of people he tried to help, by his feet. It lands on the bench where his feet are. In the shots following the pencil is gone.

Correction: The pencil rolls off.

Corrected entry: The first time we see Mr. Simonet driving in his car, you see clearly he has Washington plates; however, the movie takes place in Las Vegas.

Correction: He recently moved to Las Vegas.

Corrected entry: When the kid runs away and the mother is desperate to find him, she tells the cops on the phone "if I had a car I'd be out finding my kid myself" we know from earlier scenes that the bum fixed her truck and so she does have a car.

Correction: When Arlene is yelling at the police on the phone and says that she does not have a car, she is telling the truth because even though the car is now working, it doesn't have any wheels.

Continuity mistake: At one point late in the movie, Arlene McKinney is at the kitchen sink. If you look through the window it is daylight out. She then goes outside and it is night.

More mistakes in Pay it Forward

Arley: Jesus, you are really somethin'.
Eugene: Thanks. I appreciate the euphemism. I always wanted to be somethin'.

More quotes from Pay it Forward

Question: I might be mistaken, but I think I saw the bullies at Arlene's house at the end. Were they there, and if so, why?

MikeH

Chosen answer: The one who stabbed him was not. The others were there because they did not mean for Trevor to get stabbed and killed so now they feel guilty. They were showing Arlene they were sorry.

They were sorry for killing him.

Only one of the bullies killed him. The others were bullying, but didn't think the other would kill him. However, they still had remorse and were showing that remorse to the mother.

The one who stabbed him was probably arrested offscreen.

More questions & answers from Pay it Forward

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.