Chris Chandler (Jay Mohr) is a reporter whose car gets trashed during a police hostage crisis. Then he is surprised by a mysterious man who gives him his Jaguar. Four months earlier, Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) see troubles in his school. His cocktail waitress single mother Arlene (Helen Hunt) has a tough time with alcohol. He's afraid of his abusive absent father. He is intrigued by his new disfigured social studies teacher Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey). Mr. Simonet assigns the class to "Think of an idea to change our world and put it into ACTION!". This sets off a chain of good deeds that would get to Chris Chandler. The movie goes back and forth in time as Chris investigates the chain of events while Trevor is putting his idea into action. First Trevor tries to help homeless drug addicted Jerry (Jim Caviezel).
There is something childishly compelling about the movie. It's manipulative and plays on our best intentions. It doesn't make it a bad movie. It just makes it hard to fully embrace. It's definitely a deliberate tear jerker. Haley Joel Osment is one of the great Hollywood child stars. He shows that he has that compelling presence. He just has that face. The characters' personal lives are too melodramatic. Mostly it's fine but sometimes the dialog clanks. It is the basic idea that is so compelling. There is a horrible twist at the end. It's an unnecessary ending that one should probably ignore.
There is something childishly compelling about the movie. It's manipulative and plays on our best intentions. It doesn't make it a bad movie. It just makes it hard to fully embrace. It's definitely a deliberate tear jerker. Haley Joel Osment is one of the great Hollywood child stars. He shows that he has that compelling presence. He just has that face. The characters' personal lives are too melodramatic. Mostly it's fine but sometimes the dialog clanks. It is the basic idea that is so compelling. There is a horrible twist at the end. It's an unnecessary ending that one should probably ignore.