Disturbing yet enthralling

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

SPOILER: I quote the movie directly in my comments below...2 stars.....The two stars I gave to this film were because of the actual glimpse of real life I was given, showing me the nature of the Orange County housing market, the Hope School and the beacon of light it brings to the community. The reason I even felt compelled to review it was the nature of the questions and the demeanor of the woman who was conducting all the interviews in the film. Honestly at first I wasn't sure if she was for real! The questions she posed to the adults were fine, but the way she spoke to the children made my blood boil She was shaming and her lack of experience with interacting with children was obvious. She posed questions that the kids could never answer or that would make them face the already shamed state of homelessness. These were the questions: "Where did you get that shirt? {the shirt said "Nantucket"which we all know is a very wealthy northeastern town/tourist area. A place he knew nothing about. She just needed to point out something and almost shame him for having it as a donation...totally lacks tact. After the little boy responded "donation" she said "you look good!" "It looks good on you!""What's the worst part about being a homeless kid" and she asked this of 6 year old little Josh Brewster. The thing is, he is homeless, he is 6, and he doesn't feel the weight of the world like adults do...he still goes to school, he still plays with his friends, he has meals and clothes and a roof. He made me so proud when he answered "When people ask me dumb questions!" EXACTLY little guy...good for you. You don't know what the worst thing is about being homeless...you are a little kid. Why doesn't that lady just stop talking to you like you're an adult.She said to Ms. Brewster "you work in the happiest place on earth {speaking about DisneyLand} is your family the happiest family on earth?? WTF? I mean really lady?? This is so shaming and upsetting, it lacks tact and neutrality. And Ms Brewster responded, said "kinda sorta" - You know what makes you the happiest family on earth? It doesn't come from the places you are...the things you have...I applaud you for saying "kinda sorta" Because this interviewer has NO IDEA how to relate to you, these questions are absolutely stupid.I couldn't hardly watch it all the way through. My heart broke for the kids, and she just added fuel to the fire. This subject could have been explored with much more compassion if she had been replaced with someone who had a mother's heart and training with children and their fragile hearts. Shame on you guys for not preparing the interviewer more, she really dropped the ball.

I watched Homeless over the weekend and this is a hard film to review.First, there are really two stories here. One, the needless suffering of the children and two the parents that got them into this mess.Several families are featured in the film all living in the same run down, crime and drug filled, by the week motel. Located right across the street from Disneyland,in Anaheim CA,it's location is ironic. Bottom of the barrel on one side, Land of Enchantment on the other. By the end of the film it's pretty clear which kids have a fighting chance to escape this mess and which kids are probably going to be in jail by the time their 14.Of the families featured, only two of them seemed like functioning family units. You see closeness and love and actual parenting going on. Despite the circumstances the kids seem happy and supportive of their siblings and they take their chores (like washing dishes and taking out the trash) very seriously.The other parents are(to put it bluntly)losers who should never have had kids and should probably have their kids taken from them. One selfish mother insists on keep 4 dogs in the small filthy room with her and her three kids, this tells you just how important the kids are to her, if you don't have a dollar to your name, you get rid of the dogs. I just wanted to slap her in the face.Both of her sons already show signs of aggressive, acting out behavior and she just dismisses it as nothing. In the end her oldest son breaks into another room at the motel and steals something leading to their eviction. The angry reaction of her younger son to this news pretty much sums up the life he is going to lead (the mother is also so obese that she could never get a better job then the $9.00 one she has).The only bright spot these kids have is a special school for homeless kids. This part of the film does instill some hope that at least some of these kids might make it out of their current situations without to much harm and have better lives later on. All of the kids love their school and it is the one constant in their lives.The filmmakers give us very little back-story on how these families ended up at the motel. But it is fair to assume that these were families already living on the edge financially and were working poor to begin with. There were no regular middle class suburban families featured as I don't think there were any at the motel. Most of the residents seemed like gang bangers and white trash, so for the half way normal families the place is a living hell.Now almost four years later I would love to know what happened to some of the families and if they were able to get a home and get out of the motel.

I think there is a compelling story here to tell; unfortunately the filmmaker didn't find it. The documentary was disjointed and exploitative. There was no narrative and no cohesion; many kids were introduced for a few minutes and then never heard from again. And we didn't get a full storyline for any of them; many of the kids from the few featured families just mugged for the camera. I wanted to know more about the family backgrounds and about the situations the led to their motel residency.While I understand why Pelosi selected Orange County, she never really contrasted the kids' experience with that of their more well off peers. Simply parading them past Disneyland and talking about how they had never been inside didn't provide any real insight.Finally, I think the background research was lacking. The first woman's claim that you can't get a studio in Orange County for less than $1300 is flat out wrong. Maybe that's true in Irvine or Newport Beach, but definitely not in Orange, Anaheim, Santa Ana, and other cities in the area. I also would have liked to have learned about other organizations that are helping disadvantaged children in the area as well as charitable efforts of OC corporations - including the vilified Walt Disney Company.This was a very disappointing film. The kids are cute and charming and their story deserves to be told by a more talented filmmaker.

I must say that of all the documentary films I've watched on HBO over the years this one was most touching and eye catching as after watching you really feel good to have what you have as many people simply don't as everyday life from sleeping, eating, paying rent, and having money is a constant struggle. As Alexandra Pelosi who's great as always captures the current times of the recession and economic struggles as she showcases the problems of her home state of California in this strong eye catching doc "Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County".Being homeless is tough and one thing, but here Alexandra shows what life is like for poor kids growing up in Orange County, California. As it shows how and why these kids have to live in cheap rundown motels along the county where it's infested with crime such as gang activity and drugs. It proves a point one big problem in America is the wage factor as clearly with kids these families don't even make enough to afford a decent apartment so please raise wages! As these families can't afford decent food as shown are these children eating and living off of candy and snacks as proved people who are poor have bad diets leading to poor health. And these families can't even afford good schools which further disadvantages these kids from ever getting good jobs. And with all of the every present surrounding crime activity these kids are likely to end up in jail at a young age.Really a sad film yet it shows what life in America is like for many be thankful if you have something it's sad this happens in America, but some have and so many don't as clearly the poor motel kids of Orange County, California don't.