Losing Isaiah poster & wallpaper

Jessica Lange, Halle Berry, David Strathairn

Jessica Lange is a social worker who falls for an abandoned newborn and breaks all the rules by bringing him home. Halle Berry is the homeless druggie who dumped the baby. One of the film's best attri...( read more  read more... )butes is that it reveals everyone's perspective, though much of the story is told from Berry's point of view. Strung out on crack, Berry's character thinks nothing of hiding her baby in a cardboard box near a dumpster before going off for a fix. We watch Berry painfully pull herself up out of the gutter and make a life for herself. She embraces decency and sobriety and becomes the person she might have always been had her childhood been different. After Lange and her amiable spouse (David Strathairn) have formed strong family ties with this difficult child, they find themselves fighting to keep him when Berry decides she wants Isaiah back. Naomi Foner's clever script reveals a legal system that is as much a character in this painful story as the attorney (Samuel L. Jackson) who takes on the case pro bono. Though the film ultimately flounders under a hesitant ending, Lange is such a dynamo that this tragic story still comes recommended. --Rochelle O'Gorman

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78% liked it

8,827 ratings

Critics

41% liked it

27 critics

R, 108 min.

Directed by: Stephen Gyllenhaal

Release Date: March 17, 1995

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DVD Release Date: September 9, 2003

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Jessica Lange in Losing Isaiah Halle Berry in Losing Isaiah Halle Berry & Jessica Lange in Losing Isaiah Jessica Lange & Halle Berry in Losing Isaiah Jessica Lange in Losing Isaiah Jessica Lange, LaTanya Richardson & David Strathairn in Losing Isaiah Losing Isaiah
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Flixster Reviews (508)

  • StaisilD
    April 17, 2008
    StaisilD
    Should an African-American child be raised by Anglo-American parents? This is the perplexing question raised in Stephen Gyllengaal's tragic "Losing Isaiah", the story of the desperate custody battle between the white adoptive parents and the black biological mother of little four...( read more) year old Isaiah. Khaila Richards has discovered that the baby she left in a cardboard box is still alive and lays claim to him, stating that he should not be raised by parents of a differing colour. Margaret and Charles Lewin will not concede without a fight though, and they enlist an African-American attorney to represent their cause. Based on the novel by Seth J. Margolis, the film sees baby Isaiah being abandoned by his drug addict black mother Khaila Richards in a bin shortly after his birth. He is found and taken to hospital where Margaret Lewin, a white doctor caring for him, decides to adopts him as her own child. Isaiah fits well into the Lewin family despite hailing from a different racial background and he grows into a happy, cherished little boy. But four years later, Khaila is back on the scene demanding custody of her son back now that she is clean. And it seems the Lewins' have a fight on their hands to keep the child since the family court system not only favours children being returned to their parents but also the idea of people only being allowed to foster/adopt children of the same racial background as themselves. The quality of acting was excellent from all members of the cast. Jessica Lange gave a great depiction as Margaret Lewin, the mother who doted on Isaiah with as much love as if she had given birth to him herself. Although, on the surface, it was quite hard to like Khaila Richards, Halle Berry gave the role substance and managed to make her an almost sympathetic character as the film went on. However, the real praise has to be reserved for the tiny Marc John Jefferies, who played Isaiah. Anyone who has ever said small children can't act or tried to excuse mediocre child acting on the basis of the child's age needs to see this boy's first-class performance despite the fact he must barely have been out of nappies when he appeared in this film. I found this film quite realistic in that respect and could completely empathise with the Lewin family's sense of helpless and disbelief as they risked losing their son to a mother who dumped him purely on the basis of they had the wrong skin colour and DNA. 'Losing Isaiah' certainly shows that a child's sense of security and love must always come first, regardless of what the biological mother wants or whether his skin tone matches his adoptive parents.
  • brandonmachew
    September 19, 2006
    brandonmachew
    Jessica Lange, and Halle Barry give stellar performances as a reformed crack head (Barry) wants her surrendered baby back from the woman who raised him (Lange) the results are touchy race issues, and subjects of the heart.
  • ileo
    December 15, 2007
    ileo
    A remarkable movie!
  • trisarahtops22
    September 9, 2007
    trisarahtops22
    Very emotional - hard to determine what side you're on
  • djabonillojr2008
    October 6, 2009
    djabonillojr2008
    very underrated but superb especially Halle Berry and Jessica Lange supported with stellar supporting cast.
  • psyclock7
    July 14, 2009
    psyclock7
    I got dragged to see this one and it turned out to not be that bad...It didn't hurt that it had Halle in it"
  • ssSMOOTHCRiMiNALLL
    July 7, 2009
    ssSMOOTHCRiMiNALLL
    Sadd....very touching movie!!!
  • TheNebula
    March 10, 2009
    TheNebula
    Firstly this movie could see like a boring drama but it's not. Why ? Because it involves you. The subject is very good and acting is very realistic and impressive especially the white mother's.

    You can see and understand the love between a mother and son in this movie. ALLAH (...( read more)The God) created a very powerful instinct inside mothers' hearts. I saw this instinct in this movie so I really liked and affected me much.

    This movie can make you cry, don't go after fake love with selfish people, love is very near of you : devoted and faithful mothers of us and their love to children but never forget only the true love is for and from ALLAH.
  • knowlesey
    January 28, 2009
    knowlesey
    A very intruguing storyline and very well acted from both Jessica Lange and Halle Berry especially. Tad slow here and there but still a very good movie.
  • katbos20
    January 23, 2009
    katbos20
    this was one of halle berry's best performance the movie was awesome

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Critic Reviews

January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The movie, directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal and written by Naomi Foner, deals with all of those issues, but in a finally unsatisfactory way. full review

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