Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County

Tonight we finished watching Alexandra Pelosi's Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County.

From the HBO site:

HOMELESS...explores the world of children who reside in discounted motels within walking distance of Disneyland, living in limbo as their families struggle to survive in one of the wealthiest regions of America.  The parents of motel kids are often hard workers who don't earn enough to own or rent homes.  As a result, they continue to live week-to-week in motels, hoping against hope for an opportunity that might allow them to move up in the O.C.

The toll of this lifestyle on their children is severe.  Though the community tries to provide adequate education and food, the day-to-day lives of motel kids are often a numbing exercise in frustrating complaints and ever-diminishing expectations.

These kids' lives are bleak, and I think Pelosi is right that you can find similar stories everywhere these days.  The kids' hopelessness that the film communicates is tragic.  Pelosi seems clumsy, though.  Her voice intrudes too often, as one reviewer put it, to "influence answers and provoke responses".

I give it 3 out of 5.