User Reviews

Excellent documentary on the various complexities of the homeless- of course, many were crack addicted and hopeless but some showed a resilience and a positivity, The Skid Row barber was endearing and at the same time heartbreaking. Alcohol, drugs and mental illness are killers. We don't get a good sense of how NA or AA helped him

This documentary was extremely compelling! It was brutally honest and provided statistics and hard hitting visual stimulus to accompany the narrators experience. The "narrator / host" Michael was an excellent choice because he not only lived the experience, he was able to share and identify each level of homelessness. The veracity of this film explores the physiological, psychological and dozens of other factors that implore homelessness.

Through the eyes of several homeless persons; Scott, Natalia, Lester and the effervescent Skid Row barber you are able to witness drug/alcohol addiction, weather and living challenges, where they are forced to sleep, how they are able to get food and even some of the crimes they commit as a resort of this lifestyle.

Moreover, it exposes the governmental procedures, policies, statistics of homeless veterans and it exposes many of the challenges they face in dealing with the system. This documentary was perfectly timed and captured all of the important points, statistics and information and video-graphical diary needed to make this project a success.

We see them on the streets and tend to look down on their presence, wishing they would go away. There are more and more homeless in America every year to the rocky economic climate, the job market getting smaller and smaller and aid going to people overseas. One such place that always seems to outnumber most of the cities in America is Los Angeles. More people are losing their jobs and left in survival mode due to the revolving job market, more interest in foreign workers and the lack of facilities to help the intellectually disabled. These are the forgotten people that directors Taylor Golonka and Sergei Zelinsky are trying to shed light on when everyone has turned their back on them.

Michael Rinearson talks intimately with several people on the street; all with different backgrounds, and genders. Some are still fully conscious of the pain they endure everyday and choose not to partake in drugs to keep their spirits up. Others grow lucid with whatever they can just to ignore the pain. We would think it's a pitiful existence that one would hit rock bottom and they can pick themselves up. Many have lost the desire to do so because of the constant treatment by society as being subhuman. Taylor and Sergei bring all this out in their cinematic piece with wonderful shots of the city scape and the people around, time lapse photography and the music is beautifully haunting. One of the subjects even warns that this can be you someday and tells his cautionary tale of how life was good and then a change made everything fall apart.

I encourage people to watch this and understand these aren't just people who made wrong decisions in life. These are very real situations that happen everyday and when survival instinct kicks in, you do what you can to stay alive. Watching this film can open your eyes and at the very least, change your view of the homeless.

It was interesting certainly however the over use of power point of whatever it is to state the subjects name over and over was irritating.

Homelessness in America is undeniably a crucial problem. And due to a long economic recession, it's a problem that has only been getting worse. Everyday many of us walk past or drive by a homeless person without batting an eye or stopping to help. However many people may not be aware of just how extreme the homeless population has been growing until they have visited Los Angeles, California. As we see firsthand, this large city has an overwhelming homeless population with over two hundred thousand people experiencing homelessness at some point of the year. It shows us that Skid Row is continuing to grow and now several famous streets are looking identical to it. The documentary Homeless In Los Angeles is a shocking exposé of just how bad things have become in the land of opportunity.

From the very beginning we see how large scale of a problem homelessness is in Los Angeles. The film takes us to many notorious locations such as Hollywood Boulevard, Venice Beach, St. Monica Pier among others. We've all seen these places in movies and television and we're often lead to believe it's all glamorous. But Homeless In Los Angeles shows us the reality that it's quite miserable for thousands who walk the streets daily. Along the way we encounter many different characters who are all interesting and unique.

What makes Homeless In Los Angeles so good are the interviews given to the homeless. Every one has a different backstory, a different explanation of how they got where they are. While they are all homeless, no two people have the exact same story. Some people we encounter are drug addicts, most of whom seem to have gotten themselves into their predicament. Others were born and raised in extreme poverty. These are the people we feel most for, the ones who became homeless through no fault of their own, they were born into it. And some simply just want to throw caution to the wind and party. Whatever the case is, it's often difficult to hear the stories of these people. We discover many stoners and alcoholics who abuse substances just to make life passable.

The film is very well made with plenty of good cinematic shots of Los Angeles and really gives some scenes a good atmospheric feel to them. It shows you don't always need a big budget to make a good, important film. Homeless In Los Angeles attempts to communicate to us about the growing problem of poverty in Los Angeles and does so very well. It inspires its audience to get out and do good for the millions who are down on their luck. But the one thing virtually every audience member will do is ask themselves whether or not the American dream is still alive or if it's on a flatline. What are the odds that someone in poverty can eventually rise up and live a stable life? This is a film I would definitely recommend all should see. I found it on Amazon Instant Video which is a good option.

It's sad. It's so sad. Because this is reality. It's happening in California right now. In fact it happens all over America. Not fiction. When I've been to visit California for the first time, the whole city was beautiful. I could feel sunshine and sea breeze and blue sky has turned to purple at evening. And I think there are no conclusion of this homeless problem. It's too late. Too many immigrants are overflowing and there is no budget to help everyone. After watching this documentary, I felt so bad, and to be honest, I don't want to travel to LA.

Homeless in Los Angeles is a very realistic and in-depth documentary about the lives of the homeless people in LA. Nowadays, being homeless is already a cliché. Most of us would see a homeless person and just walk straight through them as if they are invisible. However, this documentary gives the spotlight to them.

We would see the homeless as just "the homeless" and what's great about this film is that it presents to the audience the different stories, the different perspectives of the people living in the streets--how and what they came to be. It would be surprising to know that not all of them is there by fate, but by choice.

This documentary unravels the hidden sentiments of the homeless from different walks of life. In the Country of the Free and the Land of Opportunity, how can such problem exist? How come hope seems to be lost among them? Or, how can the others choose to stay where they are? How can there be a huge disparity between the rich and the poor? How can these people survive every single day of their lives?

Discover it for yourself. Watch the shocking truth about the Homeless in Los Angeles.

This is one of the few movies I have seen, that truly and in a very convincing way, talks about the problem that modern society has. About homeless people. It's a documentary in which we can learn more about their way of surviving, on the streets of LA. We see how their ragged shelters look like, and hear what they have to say through the interviews.

I think that the point of this movie is to increase the awareness of how homelessness is humiliating, and that nobody is doing much to help these people. Many of the homeless have serious psychological problems and they are also using drugs to escape from the reality. In my case, the movie succeeded in its intention! I do see a lot of homeless folks in my city everyday, but after watching this I will be much more compassionate toward them.

One thing I must not forget to mention is the music. It's amazing and it really brings the best out of the movie scenes. Movie score: 9/10 !!!

The movie (Homeless in L.A.) focuses on a very important topic that most people disregard or don't even realize is an issue. It's very prominent in Los Angeles, California, where this documentary takes place. It contains interviews of the homeless people residing there, revealing the hardships of homelessness to the very core, of things most of us don't even think about. Something so simple to us can be something so hard to get for those without homes to call their own.

Each interviewed person has different things to say about being homeless. Sometimes they say they're proud of it and don't care what others think of them or see them as. Others said that they were ashamed of living this way, seeing family members or friends in their current condition. To others they accept it apathetically, not really missing the advantages of having a real home because they either don't care anymore or they never knew them. Each person's testimony shed so much light on this barely breached subject.

The movie is very well-presented, in excellent shape and editing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it as well as learned much from it.

I am from Turkey but I have heard homeless problem in USA and after I watched this documentary, I realized how the problem is big. Dreamland USA ha? or just a growing up by people who evading tax in their own country and bringing their black money to USA. White man has the blood of others on his hand.