In this gentle drama from director Mimi Leder, young Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) responds to a school assignment with a plan to help three people who will, in turn, help three more, and so on, in an ever-widening circle. But Trevor touches more people than he expected, including his abused mother (Helen Hunt), his physically and emotionally scarred teacher (Kevin Spacey) and a journalist (Jay Mohr) who’s investigating the plan.
For some reason or another this and "I am Sam" were my favorite movies when I was in 9th grade.
That's because both movies celebrate the "wisdom" of a child / mentally challenged adult. This infantile attitude is common in Hollywood America and its highly appealing to a 9th grader, or an adult who is mentally a 9th grader.