Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.