MovieChat Forums > Pay It Forward (2000) Discussion > Jesus Christ, this ending was retarded

Jesus Christ, this ending was retarded


It doesn't even make any goddamn sense. 7th grade bullies don't kill people, what the *beep*

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My wife and I watched this last night, and I said the same thing. The whole ending was obviously written in for the sole purpose of generating tears. It just felt like lazy writing to me.

I also can't get over the fact that three large boys would pull a knife on two little dudes, especially with a teacher witnessing the entire event. It's too far fetched.



Not me, I don't care what happens!

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Lazy writing, what an outstanding way to put it. Like, *beep*-ing really? Seriously? You guys're really going to go THERE?

I blew a raspberry at my computer screen and turned that crap off post-haste. ugh! I think the adult witnesses are what totally murdered my suspension of disbelief, as well. I was really upset because, up until then, it was a legitimately good, believably gritty movie.

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On the 13th March 1996 a demented paedophile entered a primary school in Scotland and shot dead 16 schoolchildren and a teacher. One of the most horrible crimes of my lifetime. So don't come out with 'this doesn't happen' nonsesnse.....

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Was he a 7th grade bully? I don't think so. Totally different story.

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I meant random events.

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We're not talking about random events, we're talking about unrealistic storylines with 7th graders pulling knives. Get with the program or stay the hell out.

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Considering there were Class A drugs found in a 12 year old's school bag in a Primary School here not so long ago I would say it's valid. The world is changing, for the worse, unfortunately.

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7th grade bullies don't kill people? Pretty generalizing statement not backed up by anything.

I think the knife was meant to scare, but he ended up gutting him anyway. It's not that unbelievable.

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Writing is my favorite hobby. Writing something that many can enjoy is my favorite dream.

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I agree with you straw hat boy fluffy

I can't see this as unbelievable - I can see kids in middle school killing each other.

Just as I can see sex and drugs happening in middle school..

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It's definitely in the realm of possibility for a 7th grade student to kill another. Kids of all ages have been killing and injuring each other in schools for decades. That said, it didn't really fit the movie. It came totally out of left field and served no purpose than to heighten the melodrama and drown the audience in cheese.

I thought the "bullies" who did the stabbing looked hilarious. Almost like the filmmakers snatched up some cherubic Little Rascals kids and tarted them up to look "gangsta" and intimidating. Not very effective.

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Kids of all ages have been killing and injuring each other in schools for decades. That said, it didn't really fit the movie. It came totally out of left field and served no purpose than to heighten the melodrama and drown the audience in cheese.
Agreed! I liked this movie up until that forced "Oh no, he died doing a good deed!" ending...its a shame. Gave it a star less just on that ending. If he was to die, it should've been ANOTHER way, like maybe saving an old lady about to get hit by a car or rescuing a bunch of orphans out of a burning building!

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I'm your average ordinary everyday, jorgeegeetooo!

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[deleted]

It looked like he pulled the knife out to scare him and at the same time the other kid shoved him into it. Most likely an accident with a tragic ending.

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It's unbelievable only in the context of this movie; when considering everything that happened before it, specifically what happens to each individual character.

You have one character who was knocked unconscious by his father with a 2x4, doused in gasoline and then set on fire.

You have a junkie heroin addict who's so addicted that he's homeless.

You have a drunk mother who works two jobs, has an abusive alcoholic ex-boyfriend who comes in out of her life.

The single drunk mother has a homeless mother who's such a drunk that she's homeless.

You have a black guy that was written by a white person based on a clueless white persons perspective of what they perceive as criminal black men. i.e. Walking while holding his balls, steals a boom-box, goes to prison and talks like a complete cliche. Who writes this sh!t?

The movie is relentless in creating these cookie-cutter characters who are nothing more than broad generalizations of people. Then they put every one of these stock characters into the picture. There's not one original character.

And then they have a Latino kid pull out a knife during a horribly executed - and painfully predictable - stabbing incident involving 11 year olds. This type of thing is so damn uncommon on school grounds - let alone with adult witnesses yelling from a distance to "stop" - that it still preceeds forward in this oblivious manner. All for the sake of making a more manipulative and "emotional" story. It turns out being completely laughable, obvious and utterly pathetic.

And then the filmmaker completely steals the ending to Field of Dreams. A complete and total rip off. If the movie couldn't have been any more cliched and unoriginal before that final scene, it goes ahead and stoops to a level few movies ever approach. This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. The basic idea is not terrible, but the execution is an abomination.


So tell me, where the fack is Ringo?

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I agree the ending sucked. While I do agree the ending was over the top, the bullies didn't intend to kill just hurt. They were idiots and didn't understand the consequences. And yes, sadley, kids do kill kids.

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An unnecessarily bad ending! The pay it forward message is one of hope, but this kid's karmic reward is a senseless death. So now you are left at the end of the movie with the thought, that despite your best efforts, life just sucks. I especially hated the cheesy candlelight vigil at the end. The movie isn't called pay it back. Pay it forward, people!

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