<P> Pay It Forward is a 2000 American drama - romance film based on the novel of the same name by Catherine Ryan Hyde . It is set in Las Vegas, and it chronicles 12 - year - old Trevor McKinney's launch of a goodwill movement known as' pay it forward' . Directed by Mimi Leder and written by Leslie Dixon, it stars Haley Joel Osment as Trevor, Helen Hunt as his alcoholic single mother Arlene McKinney, and Kevin Spacey as his physically and emotionally scarred social studies teacher Eugene Simonet . </P> <P> The film was released on October 20, 2000 to mixed reviews, with most critics praising the acting, writing, music and cinematography but criticizing the story and accusing it of excessive emotional manipulation, particularly in its ending . It was a moderate box office success, earning just over $55.7 million on a $40 million budget . </P> <P> Trevor (Haley Joel Osment) begins 7th grade in Las Vegas, Nevada, his social studies teacher Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey) gives the class an assignment to devise and put into action a plan that will change the world for the better . Trevor's plan is a charitable program based on the networking of good deeds . He calls his plan "pay it forward", which means the recipient of a favor does a favor for three others rather than paying the favor back . However, it needs to be a major favor that the recipient cannot complete themselves . </P> <P> Trevor does a favor for three people, asking each of them to "pay the favor forward" by doing favors for three other people, and so on, along a branching tree of good deeds . His first good deed is to let a homeless man named Jerry (James Caviezel) live in his garage, and Jerry pays the favor forward by doing car repairs for Trevor's mother . Trevor's efforts appear to fail when Jerry relapses into drug addiction, but Jerry pays his debt forward later by talking to a suicidal woman, who is about to jump off a bridge . </P>

What grade is trevor in pay it forward