MovieChat Forums > Pay It Forward (2000) Discussion > a better ending

a better ending

posted 17 years ago by rutica
77 replies | jump to latest

I think a better ending would be:

Instead of at school, Trevor and the bullies have the fight near Trevor's house. His mom gathers Trevor and jumps in her truck (which Jerry fixed) and rushes to the hospital. Because of the truck, she's able to get to the hospital quickly.

At the hospital, Trevor's life is saved by a brilliant female pediatric surgeon. The surgeon emerges from the operating room and tells Trevor's mom that it was a hard fight, but she refused to give up on Trevor. As the mom thanks her, the surgeon says her job is emotionally very difficult because many of her young patients die. The surgeon says she has been depressed lately, but it's good news like Trevor's survival that makes her remember why she is a doctor. The viewers then get a flashback and realize the doctor is the woman on the bridge who Jerry saved.

So although Trevor's acts were selfless, they came back to help him in the end. It would be a nice message about how good deeds can make a circle.

[–] Speeed (195) 5 years ago

I really liked this movie but absolutely hated the ending. Especially the sappy vigil in their front yard. I would've been satisfied with them just cutting out right at the end of the kid's video. Would've made for a more somber but deeper ending. I like to OP's idea too.

[–] FilmStar (408) 5 years ago

Yeah, I never liked the ending. It's like, did he have to die to appear saint-like or something? If he had to get stabbed, he should have been able to live so he could see how even though Pay it Forward may not be perfect, it is still a good cause that affects a lot of people. I think I remember there was an interview with the author who said she chose that ending because she didn't want everything to work out perfectly and to have a cheesy happy ending. Which fine, but you don't have to kill the kid.