Search - A Walk to Remember/Pay It Forward on DVD

Men, Take Two For The Team

R.A. McKenzie | New York | 06/06/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am a 24-year-old guy. I doubt these movies were designed with me in mind. Not that guys can't enjoy chick flicks, or whatever the politically-correct term is for movies that women tend to enjoy more than men. But "A Walk To Remember" and "Pay It Forward" want you to cry, and they want you to CRY HARD!

Sometimes to get emotional, we gotta let a movie manipulate us a little. Not too much, but a little nudge in the soft direction ain't too bad. I once read that, "We are who we bring with us to the movie, and all we can do is describe what happened to us when we left."

Well, "A Walk To Remember" was a charming little romance with a little cheese on the side. I found "Pay It Forward" to be a little too much in its final stretch, but you can't deny its sadness.

"A Walk To Remember" is the story of how a troublemaking teenager is forced to help students with learning disabilities as a discipline. Soon, he meets another tutor, a pastor's daughter. The two begin have a kind but dismissive relationship, until eventually the two start developing feelings for one another. I won't spoil what sad event causes the whole movie to take a turn, but it's a romantic movie, and appropriate for families too.

"Pay It Forward" takes a much darker angle to stir our emotions. The main plot portrays how a young student --- for a class assignment --- comes up with an idea to make the world a nicer place. He suggests that if 1 person did 3 good deeds, and then the people they helped did 3 more of their own, it could change the world. While this is an optimistic message (and a meaningful one), "Pay It Forward" takes some intense turns. Almost everyone in the movie is a victim of some sort of abuse or misfortune. Several fathers are revealed as disturbingly violent, a couple mothers are absent, a teacher is disfigured, and one poor kid is constantly bullied to the point of being murdered. Kinda heavy stuff. The movie has a positive message, but it saddens the hell out of you before it gets there. The performances are terrific, but I think most will feel uneasy or toyed with rather than inspired.

I recommend getting this double-pack because "A Walk To Remember" is a good, solid movie. But if you want another tear-jerker, "Pay It Forward" will give it to you, whether you want it to or not."

Movie 1

Florence M. Herrera | Ca | 05/28/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Waited to watch this movie and only 1 side was good other side all marked up and would jump. Did not want to spend the time or money to return it. This was a new movie but think it was a damaged when it was made."