Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story

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.

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.

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 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.