उपयोगकर्ता समीक्षाएं

Sometimes TV movies out do themselves, this is one such.

A truly inspiring true story, is almost unbelievable. I believe that the protagonist will go on to do great things, I am sure she will make a great mark in society and that we will hear from her again: perhaps the source of a sequel! To come from such a background to excelling so impressively is an inspiration, the sort of movie that could be used as a motivation tool.

The production values and the acting - particularly that of Thora Birch - are very impressive.

I would recommend this movie to all.

Used to live in the same life like Liz. Now I am going to apply for Stanford University.

"Homeless to Harvard" tells the true story of Liz Murray who went from living with her druggie parents in a Bronx slum and living on the street while dumpster diving for food to earning a degree at Harvard University. This gritty TV flick is narrated by Thora Birch who registers a sterling performance as the wan, slump shouldered, stringy haired teen protag whose mother's death from AIDS set her free to focus her brain power and determination on academic success. Though this film is a worthy testament to the success of Liz Murray it is, in the final analysis, just another rags to

(intellectual) riches story. Not that big a deal with an obvious made-for-TV "feel", "Homeless to Harvard" is inspirational fodder for teen females and a worthy watch for Birch fans. (B-)

Generally, made for television movies are on a level below theatrical endeavors. However, `Homeless To Harvard' is a surprising and welcome exception. Without question it is one of the best made for television movies ever produced. This true story of Liz Murray continually strikes your primal emotional chord throughout the movie. The story is told in a stark realistically convincing manner. Excellent performances are turned in by Jennifer Pisana and Thora Birch as Liz at slightly different ages and by Kelly Lynch as Liz's alcoholic and drug addicted mother Jean. Unfortunately, the world has an ample supply of dysfunctional parents. Most often, their own children use them as an excuse to be equally dysfunctional. How uplifting to have a child use their parent's dysfunctional behavior, not as an excuse to sink into oblivion, but rather as a reason to not follow in their footsteps. This movie is all about choices. Anyone of any age who watches this movie will be left with absolutely no excuse to wallow in self pity. While this movie is a remarkable endeavor, it could have been even better. Understandably you can only fit so much content into a movie. Moreover, I'm certain that the writers included all of the key elements of Liz's life. However, this movie would have stood in a class by itself if only they had delved into Liz's true character. They did an exceptional job of depicting the decadent life that she was subject to, her reactions to it, and her existence within it. However, you don't get to see inside of Liz to actually know what she's all about. In addition, I sensed that we were shown a slightly whitewashed portrait of Liz in contrast to her true self. I suspect that she was in fact a little less innocent and a little more tarnished and troublesome than she was portrayed to be. If there's one unanswered question lingering on viewer's minds, it has to be: Why, after overcoming such insurmountable adversity, did she end up leaving Harvard? All that aside, 'Homeless To Harvard' is truly a triumph of the human spirit movie. This will be a treasured prize for your DVD/VHS collection when it becomes available.

One of the few movies I've seen that truly talks about the problems that many societies around the globe are suffering from. It also goes to show you how far you can go if you are determined on something. So, you can really make a change if you put your mind into it. And it goes to show you that there is always hope for a better tomorrow. You just have to work hard for it. We all face problems of various degrees. But whatever the problem may be, we can face it with strong belief and strong will. Be someone and make your life and all the world around you a better place. I loved the movie, the story, the music, and, on top of all, the performance of Thora Birch. In my opinion, it is a must see.

"Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story" is a Biography - Drama movie based on the life of Liz Murray. We follow her from her childhood until the time she becomes homeless at 15, she starts a job and work very hard to finish high school.

I liked this movie very much because it is based on real life story and I found it very inspirational. The direction which was made by Peter Levin was exceptional because I liked the way he presented the difficulties that Liz Murray faced not only with her parents but also her personal difficulties, and had to overcome in order to succeed. The interpretations of Thora Birch's who played as Liz Murray, Michael Riley's who played as Peter Murray and Kelly Lynch who played as Jean Murray were simply amazing. I highly recommend everyone to watch this movie because I am sure that not only you will like it but also that you will find it very motivational and inspirational. It's a life lesson for everyone, just watch it.

I remember hearing about Liz Murray on Oprah back in 2004. I also remember she was the first recipient of Oprah's Chutzpah award and was inspired by her story. Naturally, it was only right of me to be curious about the film made about her life, and since I was not able to see it back then, I decided to fork out the money to buy the actual movie online last year. I'm so glad I did because it truly is one of the most inspirational films I've seen. The film has no pretense about it, it doesn't paint Liz Murray as this big heroine or self-pitying sermonizer, her story just was what it was - she realized her situation and took steps to eventuate to success out of grand resilience. She overcame a great deal of hardship to make it out telling her story to the world. Anecdotes that really convey her situation; about doing her homework on the subway train, juggling twice the amount of course work, trying to deal with her family situation of drug-addicted parents, shoplifting self help books and of course it goes without saying - being homeless.

The performances are terrific, especially Thora Birch - off the back of her comedic role in Ghostworld - really shows her range here and her portrayal is determinedly solemn. Also, an honorable mention to the girl who plays young Liz.

I'm also glad this story wasn't made into some big Hollywood production - it would have come across too schmaltzy.

Thora Birch is Liz, a young woman who grows up in a poor household where both parents are excessive drug addicts. She's a genius but she refuses to go to school because she doesn't know how to interact with her peers (she's intellectually superior to them).

When her mother leaves to live with her sexually abusive grandfather, Liz tries to live there but runs away after an argument with him. She lives on the street, and in a group home. She stays at friends' houses from time to time. She discovers what hardship really is.

After her mother dies from AIDS (which she acquired from drug use), Liz wakes up, and realizes her potential. She also realizes that she doesn't want to be homeless anymore, and that she wants to move on to a civilized lifestyle. So she goes to school. She is in gifted classes and she finishes High School in two years. She also receives a scholarship to Harvard, from the New Yor times for an essay she wrote about overcoming obstacles to get to her success.

The movie is very inspiring one of the best Lifetime movies created. Thora Birch proves that she is one of the best younger actresses today. Her powerful performance is very much deserving of an Emmy Award.

I am astounded at the amount of positive reviews this movie has. I can only assume it is getting high ratings for the story because they way this has been put together is amateurish. I know it is a made-for-TV movie, but does it have to scream it? The use of voice-over is terribly cheesy. I don't alway mind VOs but in this case it seems like a lazy of showing what is going on instead of writing powerful scenes and letting the audience figure it out.

I don't see why something that is a true story has to have the sentiment ladled on so thickly. The story should speak for itself.

The acting from the leads was okay. The supporting cast was a bit weak.

I recommend you see this movie only if you are really bored or you are a homeless person that need inspiration.

I was expecting this movie to be really good. Just by watching the previews of it made it sound like it was interesting, and boy was it. Thora Birch does an excellent job of portraying Liz Murray, a young woman who beats all the odds. She grows up in a broken home with two drug addicted parents who do nothing for her or her sister. Kelly Lynch is amazing as a mother with serious problems. The story really draws you in and it's sad. You want to feel sorry for her, but then you also wonder why she didn't pick up her life earlier than she did. I am so glad I watched this movie. It was truly inspirational.

I laughed and I cried. This movie was so powerful and tells such a wonderful story of survival and determination. The acting was wonderful. A true inspiration. The fact that this is based on a true story makes it even more wonderful.

I had only seen Thora Birch in "Ghost World" (where she was also quite good) and so felt she deserved credit for this TV movie which was based on a true story.

Kelly Lynch and Michael Riley portray Liz Murray's parents who are both drug addicts living in squalor in a NYC apartment. I am not certain why Lynch often gets these roles. In "The Jacket" she had a similar role, but she is nonetheless believable.

Liz Murray attends school, and while being an excellent student, has difficulty with her emotions, sadness, and unstable home life. Eventually her mother contracts AIDS, and must either live with her father, or some form of assisted living. Murray apparently managed on her own. She studies hard, takes AP college courses, and sleeps overnight in abandoned subway cars. (Anyone who has seen the NY city subway system know this is no small feat).

Birch is believable, and looks the part; with all the odds against her she does well, graduates high school, and is offered a scholarship to Harvard. The fact that this is a true story is positive, it is nice to see a movie with a decent message for kids with real reasons why they should stay in school. 9/10.

I was really moved by this story, even more so when I realised it was based on a true story! I thought that Thora's acting as Liz was really great and she had me routing for Liz to pull through and make it.

It was really inspiring (so much so that I wrote a song straight after watching it!) and it teaches that you should never give up on yourself. OK, so Liz made it to Harvard and not everyone will be that lucky, but Harvard isn't for everyone and the message is really to set yourself a goal that you think you just might be able to attain and then go for it!

It was a shame that UK television saw fit not to put it on at a reasonable time as it was aired late on Monday night and finished after 1:00am. I really only caught it by chance, but was very glad that I did.

In my personal opinion, which is why we have the opportunity to leave these "comments"--this was a nicely done made-for-TV-movie. I usually do like anything Lifetime does, and although our testosterone-filled counterparts normally consider EVERY Lifetime project a "chic-flick"- I even think my hubby will enjoy this one(when I find out when it re-airs-I'm going to force him to watch it-LOL-he's not a "movie" person and considers going to the movies "paying $7.50 to take a nap in a nice cool dark place!") One thing I didn't care for was wondering at the end why she left Harvard-I have found out through this forum(hopefully it is true) that although she did in fact leave Harvard, she then chose another school, and graduated--but only to be closer to her ailing father. That was nice to find out. It brought tears to my eyes when she was narrating about her "lice infested hair" and that her teachers were always fussing at her to stop fidgeting- but that was hard to do--due to her not knowing anything about personal hygiene-which caused her to "just wear her panties until they fell apart"-yes that is quite "gross" to the general public, but SO sad to think that such a young child wasn't able to figure out how to wash her own panties at least in the sink to avoid having to sit in filthy underwear on a daily basis, causing her bottom to be so raw that it was painful just to sit in class. That really "hit home"-not that I personally went through anything like that-but it was at that point in the movie that it really sunk in that so many children actually live through these types of situations- only to be ignored by the system-and and when the system FINALLY gets a heads up-the children are treated like dirt- by the social service workers(very meanly and uncaring)and placed in places like she was where the older children regularly beat and abuse the other children! Now THAT part of the movie I personally COULD relate to- I worked in a foster/group facility- ("home" is wayyy too nice to describe this place) in a small "city" named Central, SC, called "Helping Hands of Clemson" and eventually quit due to the higher ups not doing a dang thing about staff treating children poorly(placing a 3 year old in a dark closet because he would not go to sleep and holding the door shut...and later laughing/bragging about the fact that "the little brat actually figured out where the light switch was so we have to figure out something else to torture him with so he will go to bed instead of crying for his Nanna and keeping the other kids up!"), other children beating on their peers, wrong medications being given(Example:Giving PeptoBismol for tummy aches to children under the age of 18-when it clearly states on the bottle the warnings about Reyes Syndrome!)-and also- given by UNcertified personnel--just a slew of wrongdoings--and YES-I did report the facility to the "proper authorities" (more than once)--HA-nothing was done except the directors had to make sure that every shift had a houseparent that had gone to classes to become CPR certified. All of this "reporting" made it nearly impossible for me to stay working there since I was labeled "Miss Know-It-All"! And being anonymous ...there is no such thing!Thats a joke too! They ALL knew it was me because I was the only one appalled by the things that were going on around me! Reporting these places-thinking you are doing the right thing--what a laugh!

Anyway- all in all- this is a good-eye opening family movie, which truly gives children, young adults, and in fact-ANYONE-- a good message .... being able to succeed!!!--even with very big obstacles in life....all it takes is a lot of dedication and yes- HARD work! It shows how to not play the "victim"--BREAK the cycle! I do wish I would have known that Liz herself had played a part of a social worker in the movie so I could see what she looks like- I can't wait to see if it comes on again and when, or I will have to figure out where to buy or rent it!

Life gives you reality, it is best to use it, it forces you forward, because you have no way back. You have to see the essence of things, you don't have to ask why, because you know.

A very inspirational and uplifting story of Liz Murray.. it upholds our belief and our message to our kids that you could be what you want to be ..

How is being homeless a disadvantage? I can understand the feeling of social outcast, but I think that is norm in today's society. They make it out to be that the main focus in life is money. I can understand wanting to achieve things when you're brought up in an environment where your "guardians" supposedly are the worst kind of people. This movie honestly just makes me want to vomit in how it views success and how it views possibilities and goals and hope in general. It makes it seem hope is something that you can find through hard work and going to college or writing a piece of literature about yourself that frankly isn't that original. If you want some good autobiography work check out... James Frey (even if bits are fictional he's a hell of a writer), Running with Scissors (not the movie, the book), Kerouac (I think in every piece of his work he has parts that are drawn from his live) or just something effing else

Once of the few movies I've seen that truly talks about the problems that many societies around the globe are suffering from . It also goes to show you how far you can go if you are determined on something . So , you can really make a change if you put your mind into it . And it goes to show you that there is always hope for a better tomorrow . You just ve to work ha for it . We all face problems of various degrees . But whatever the problem may be , we can face it with strong belief and strong will . Be someone and make your life and all the world around you a better place. And i loved the tone of tha shoot.