Little Liz Murray seemed on her own virtually since the time she was born. She was the caretaker of her drug-addicted, alcoholic mother. She also grew up without the love of distant, addled father, who could answer questions on "Jeopardy," yet was clueless about matters of family intimacy.
"Homeless to Harvard" had a strong lead performance from Thora Birch as Liz Murray. The performer conveyed both the vulnerability of the character and the extraordinary resilience that allowed her pull herself up by her bootstraps, eventually winning a scholarship to attend Harvard.
A shortcoming of the film was that the majority of the time was spent in depicting the horrors of growing up in squalid living quarters, mental and physical disease, and an uncaring social welfare system that did not intervene sufficiently on behalf of Liz and her sister Lisa.
There could have been more moments spent in those times when Liz received some care and concern from the neighbor Eva, whose volumes of an encyclopedia Liz avidly read to develop her mind. Those scenes would have served as the foreground for why Liz ultimately became a star student under the tutelage of her mentor David.
The filmmakers wanted to be faithful to the recreation of the harrowing circumstances of Liz's family life, including a nefarious grandfather ("Pops") who was a despicable creature. But the clear sparks that were occurring in Liz's love of learning were not made apparent enough through the fog of an abusive and life-damaging home environment.
Still, this was a moving and uplifting story with a strong central performance. No Varsity Blues for the tenacious Liz Murray!
"Homeless to Harvard" had a strong lead performance from Thora Birch as Liz Murray. The performer conveyed both the vulnerability of the character and the extraordinary resilience that allowed her pull herself up by her bootstraps, eventually winning a scholarship to attend Harvard.
A shortcoming of the film was that the majority of the time was spent in depicting the horrors of growing up in squalid living quarters, mental and physical disease, and an uncaring social welfare system that did not intervene sufficiently on behalf of Liz and her sister Lisa.
There could have been more moments spent in those times when Liz received some care and concern from the neighbor Eva, whose volumes of an encyclopedia Liz avidly read to develop her mind. Those scenes would have served as the foreground for why Liz ultimately became a star student under the tutelage of her mentor David.
The filmmakers wanted to be faithful to the recreation of the harrowing circumstances of Liz's family life, including a nefarious grandfather ("Pops") who was a despicable creature. But the clear sparks that were occurring in Liz's love of learning were not made apparent enough through the fog of an abusive and life-damaging home environment.
Still, this was a moving and uplifting story with a strong central performance. No Varsity Blues for the tenacious Liz Murray!