What do an alcoholic titty-bar waitress, an obsessive-compulsive 7th grade teacher and a kid with beady little eyes and giant teeth have to do with each other?  You can find out in Pay it Forward, a button-pushing film with terrific acting, an interesting story and a really hokey ending.

Forward begins with a Los Angeles news reporter named Chris Chandler (Jay Mohr, Action) getting his classic car ruined during a hostage situation.  While he stares in disbelief at the twisted pile of metal, a complete stranger offers Chandler a brand-new Jaguar.  Shocked beyond belief, Chandler asks the stranger if any strings are attached to the generous, out-of-the-blue offer, to which the stranger replies, “Pay it forward.”  The understandably curious reporter then launches an investigation into the situation.

Flash to four months earlier, where 11-year-old Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense) is beginning his first year at a Las Vegas middle school.  His social studies teacher, Mr. Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey, The Big Kahuna), gives Trevor and his class an abstract extra-credit assignment by telling them to “think of an idea to change our world and put it into action.”

The strong-minded Trevor immediately begins to work on the project, coming up with a rather simple, inventive idea of thinking globally but acting locally.  His plan - dubbed “paying it forward” - has three steps (like The Tao of Steve) that basically calls for everybody to help three other people in unique ways.  In turn, these people will help three more people, who will help three more people, and so on and so forth, until the whole world becomes one cosmic pyramid scheme of do-gooders.

The main problem with Forward is that Trevor concocts this idea within the first 30 minutes of the film, so you know that Chandler will eventually trace “pay it forward” back to Trevor before the credits start to roll.  The remaining ninety-plus-minutes are rather predictable, save a couple of minor twists at the end.  But it’s still fun to watch Trevor’s plan take root, especially when it shows you can go from providing a bowl of cereal to giving away a luxury vehicle in just five simple steps.

After Trevor’s first attempt to help a homeless man (James Caviezel, Frequency), he sets his sights on Mr. Simonet, a slightly disfigured burn victim who doesn’t appear to have had a date since the Carter administration.  Trevor tries to fix his unsuspecting teacher up with his mother, Arlene (Helen Hunt, As Good As it Gets), a boozehound with half-empty bottles stashed all over the house.  At first, it seems like all of Trevor’s attempts at helping others fail miserably, but the presence of the Chandler sub-plot reminds us that at least one must have been successful.

It’s interesting to watch people get suspicious and angrily shout, “I didn’t ask for your help,” when strangers offer to go out on a limb. Forward also shows people “paying it forward” on a broader level through corrective parenting.

If you think it sounds schmaltzy, just wait until the ending, which drives its point home with the weepy Jane Siberry song "Calling All Angels."  It’s calculating beyond comprehension.  Forward has other problems, too.  The sole black character is a convicted thief, while the only two Latinos are knife-wielding pre-teens.  Jon Bon Jovi (U-571), who plays Trevor’s deadbeat dad, looks strangely effeminate and could probably pass for a transvestite on the right street corner.

There’s also a big stumbling block with the Chris Chandler thread of the story.  Why does he start tracing the origins of “pay it forward”?  It’s just dumb luck that he catches the thing while its only five steps removed from the source.  He could have been hundreds of participants away, and his search could have taken years.  Forward’s time manipulation is a little shaky as well.  Chandler’s story begins four months after Trevor launches “pay it forward,” but by the last reel, the past has somehow caught up with the present.

Forward was directed by Mimi Leder, who is probably best known for helming action films (like Deep Impact and The Peacemaker) and is a frequent contributor to the fast-paced ER.  The deliberately slow pacing of Forward comes as somewhat of a welcome change, as are the close-ups of Mr. Simonet’s scars and Arlene’s prematurely aged mug.  The film was written by Leslie Dixon (The Thomas Crown Affair) and adapted from the Catherine Ryan Hyde novel.  But don’t let the fact that the film was written and directed by women give you the impression that Forward is a chick flick.

Oscar-caliber talent can be found behind the camera as well as in front of it.  Thomas Newman (a nominee for American Beauty) provides the score, while David Rosenbloom (a nominee for The Insider) serves as the film’s editor. Cinematographer Oliver Stapleton, who was robbed of a nomination for The Cider House Rules, does a fantastic job of making the characters seem extremely isolated from the rest of the world, especially with scenes looking out Mr. Simonet’s classroom over the barren desert and Rocky Mountains.

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