(rated PG-13)
All eyes are upon Haley Joel Osment the Oscar nominated kid for “Sixth Sense” in his first follow-up movie choice. From director Mimi Leder (“Deep Impact”) comes a bittersweet drama featuring Osment as a 12-year-old boy who attempts to make the world a better place with a “pay it forward” school project in which one does a good deed for a stranger. Instead of returning the favor of the giver, the recipient of your kindness must pay it forward by doing a good deed to another stranger. Academy Award winner Helen Hunt plays Trevor’s struggling single mother, Oscar winner Kevin Spacey portrays the boy’s emotionally and physically scarred social studies teacher, with Angie Dickinson as Hunt’s homeless mother and Live Schreiber as the reporter, who breaks the story about the boy. A movie with a mission, the concept in itself can’t hurt the real world and especially leave us thinking about Oscar buzz again for the child star. Hunt is strong in her performance; Spacey, his usual brilliant self. Based on the novel of the same name by Catherine Ryan Hyde, the movie was filmed before the book was even published.