Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Girl rises despite parental neglect, addiction, violence.
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Why Age 14+?
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Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Liz Murray's (Thora Birch) childhood was a nightmare. In HOMELESS TO HARVARD: THE LIZ MURRAY STORY, she and her sister have to fight off their violent, drug-addicted mother (Kelly Lynch) when she comes looking for the little money the family had set aside for food. Although highly intelligent, Liz stays home from school to watch over her increasing dysfunctional parents. Occasionally she shows up for class, filthy and smelly, to take end-of-year tests, which she aces, partly because she reads the encyclopedia volumes a neighbor fished out of a dumpster. When social services show up at the apartment for which no one pays the rent, they blame Liz, instead of her parents, for her truancy. The group home they eventually place her in is filled with violent older girls who beat and maim each other for fun. Liz realizes life on the street is preferable to the home but eventually that, too, is unsustainable and at 17 gets herself into a special school. She studies day and night to complete the high curriculum in two years. She earns a four-year scholarship and gets into Harvard in 2003. She's now married with children and makes a living as a motivational speaker.
Is It Any Good?
This is a well-told tale of almost unbearably tragic circumstances and the extraordinary drive, perseverance, and courage displayed by one girl striving to overcome them. But despite her triumph over neglect, one is left with the depressing knowledge that the many children who suffer childhood challenges similar to Liz's will never find a way out of the poverty and the anti-social behavior their upbringing dooms them to. Her friend Chris has so internalized the self-loathing message from her parents that she would grow up to be "trash," that she believes it and discourages Liz from trying to do better in life.
As shown here, the social service system is neither vast enough, caring enough, nor effective enough to save such children. Even the most helpful authorities make striving difficult. In order to gain entry into her highly supportive high school, Liz had to supply a home address and phone number, neither of which she had at the time. She was forced to lie to comply with the requirements.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the generational cycle of poverty and homelessness that begins when damaged parents, themselves abused by neglectful and violent parents, have children they either neglect or abuse.
Why do you think social service workers, who clearly knew the family's situation, blamed a little girl for not going to school? Why do you think teachers failed to look into why a girl who rarely came to school was always filthy, hungry, and smelling bad when she did show up?
Authorities seemed to view the fact that Liz's parents were drug addicts as a problem that was Liz's problem to solve and that Liz's truancy was her own fault. Do you think authorities should step in to help kids whose parents cannot function as proper caretakers? Why or why not?
It was normal for Liz's parents to take the money set aside to feed their children and use it to buy drugs. How do you think that affects a child's ability to trust? Can a person overcome the emotional instability caused by irresponsible parents?
Do you think people who want to have children should be required to have lessons in parenting? Why or why not?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : April 7, 2003
- Cast : Thora Birch , Kelly Lynch , Michael Riley
- Director : Peter Levin
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Lifetime
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : Family Stories
- Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance
- Run time : 88 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : May 4, 2026
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