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PAY IT FORWARD, as the hot-air ads trumpet, pairs Oscar winners Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt with wee nominee Haley Joel Osmont (THE SIXTH SENSE). They play, in reverse order, a smart, smart-assed, Las Vegas middle-schooler, his casino-working, cocktail-waitress single mom, and the lad's stern, facially scarred social studies teacher (Spacey with enough make-up to model for "Gray's Anatomy"). The school year's just started and the Spacey's character's kids have been challenged to con- ceive an idea that'll change the world. So Ozzy's character does just chat, envisioning a goodwill program that pays people *forward* with favors. Let's see, Mom's also a drunk, the kid's *mad* at Mom about being a drunk, and there looks be romance on the not-so-distant hori- zon. The catch is that S/H/O are only *half* stars in the movie. Or, maybe, two-thirds stars. The rest of the story unfolds four months forward, as Jay Mohr's blandly bland reporter begins investigating a chain of bizarre favor-giving. Back and forth we go, not a lot, but enough to annoy. Especially when select scenes seem hardly real, like an absurdly played E.R. encounter. The three principal characters are immediately interesting, though their actions and interactions are not always believable, either. I lasted an hour, minus however many min- utes were missed due to extended eyelid closure. Must say, it might just've been worth the price of admission to see Hunt's portrayal of Death Warmed Over, her frazzled, bleached-blonde press-curls hiding turquoise-smeared eye-shadow. Yikes! Mimi Leder (DEEP IMPACT) di- ects. (Rated "PG-13"/122 min.) Grade: W/O Copyright 2000 by Michael J. Legeros Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros