Unrealistic? Of course. Pay It Forward leads you to believe that street dwellers, gang bangers and bloodsucking lawyers are really altruistic do-gooders when given the proper inspiration. Humanity is all good – just a bit misunderstood – in this movies estimation. Yeah, right – and humanity can redeem itself, too. The reality is that the world is quickly catching up to the fallacy of this "man is good" premise of modernism. We have not progressively evolved to a utopian state, we are not capable of unlocking the mysteries of life and the universe through science, and God is not dead.

A quick survey of 20th century atrocities has proven the deprave nature of humanity, and this reality is just the opposite of what Pay It Forward suggests. The Holocaust explored the depths of government-sanctioned evil by "civilized" human beings, while genocide in Rwanda terrified the world with its bloody savagery. Even the United States has shown that freedom and democracy are unable to redeem humanity as families are broken, gluttony runs so rampant that obesity is a national epidemic, and racism is a cancer that many Americans still won’t acknowledge.

But that’s where the "suspension of disbelief" comes in when viewing a film – especially a drama like Pay It Forward. If we don’t suspend our disbelief, we can become cynics who just smirk at the humanistic philosophies of a film instead of encouraging its edifying elements.

Despite my disagreement with Pay It Forward’s world view, the film clicked for me for several reasons. First, it’s not nearly as warm and fuzzy as the premise sounds. The plot took me places I didn’t expect to go and had me pondering instead of predicting scenes. Pay It Forward hooked me with a compelling story that avoids saccharine sweet clichés and didn’t release me until the final credits were rolling.

"Pay It Forward’s" characters kept me curious – something that is to be commended in this age of "scapegoating" characters. Screenwriter Leslie Dixon (The Thomas Crown Affair, Mrs. Doubtfire) should be commended for bucking against this Hollywood trend of purposely creating one-dimensional characters (good, bad or otherwise) so that the audience always knows who to cheer for, and who will win in the end. (Think of almost any action flick where the characters may as well have "good guy," "bad guy" or "sex pot" stamped on their foreheads for reference.) Scapegoated characters are often used to set-up overblown special effects and action sequences and make for easy marketing for the studios, but usually fail when seeking depth or drama. They would fall into the category of "easy marketing/bad storytelling."

But Dixon’s multi-faceted characters escaped the movie mill cookie cutter. Mr. Simonet made me want to gag in his opening scene when he assigned the class their "change the world" project. I resigned myself to another stereotypical "humane teacher" character that has overcome the odds and now inspires others toward humanistic redemption. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy Dead Poet’s Society, but it seems that every movie involving an inspirational teacher revolves around Robin Williams’ character in that film.

Imagine my surprise when it’s revealed early in the movie that Mr. Simonet doesn’t have any save the world motive, at all. He just gives the assignment to give his kids a little inspiration. And he’s downright mean when he snaps at Hunt’s character during a parent-teacher meeting. Mr. Simonet has strengths and weaknesses, he’s likeable but imperfect – in other words, he’s like a real person.

In addition to taking the risk of creating complex characters, Dixon makes bold statements against alcoholism that aren’t the typical Hollywood fare. Even though Hunt’s character serves drinks in a sleazy bar the vocation isn’t glamorized like it was by the "Coyote Ugly" crew. "Coyote Ugly" made it seem like every woman should aspire to dress like a prostitute and spray booze on ogling bar hounds. But in Pay It Forward Helen Hunt’s character looks downright repulsive in most scenes. In the real world, alcoholism and partying aren’t glamorous and Pay It Forward shows the emptiness in a way that’s powerful without being gratuitous.

Pay It Forward pays off because it has a powerful story. Plus, the movie stimulates thought instead of suppressing it — what if people were kinder to one another, would it make a difference? Raising these kind of questions has the potential to refine the viewer's soul by encouraging service to others — whether the premise would work in real life or not. But screentime devoted to sexual promiscuity and profanity is equally capable of tarnishing the soul. For good and for ill, Pay It Forward takes you places you don't expect to go.