losing isaiah

Director: stephen gyllenhaal

Actor: jessica lange,halle berry,david strathairn,cuba gooding jr.

Data Published: Fri Mar 17 1995

Genres: Drama

Key Words: baby,custody battle,social worker,cartoon on tv,female protagonist

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113691/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Losing_Isaiah

Description: Losing Isaiah is a movie starring Jessica Lange, Halle Berry, and David Strathairn. The biological and adoptive mothers of a young boy are involved in a bitter, controversial custody battle.

Plot: While craving her next hit, Khaila Richards (Halle Berry), an African-American crack cocaine addict, abandons her baby Isaiah in the rubbish. She promises to "come back later." The next day, the baby narrowly escapes death in the garbage truck. Then, Isaiah is sent to the hospital, where they discover he is also addicted to crack through his mother's addiction. While caring for Isaiah, a white social worker named Margaret Lewin (Jessica Lange) grows increasingly fond of him and eventually adopts him to live with her and her white husband, Charles (David Strathairn) and daughter, Hannah. Meanwhile, Khaila is caught shoplifting and is sent to rehab, unaware Isaiah is alive. Three years later, Khaila successfully completes her treatment and confesses to her case worker that she abandoned Isaiah in the alley. Unknown to Khaila, the case worker investigates and discovers Isaiah's adoption. They hire a lawyer, Kadar Lewis (Samuel L. Jackson) to contest the adoption. An ugly court battle ensues, with racial issues demonstrating inadequacies on both sides. The judge overturns the adoption, returning Isaiah to Khaila, much to the Lewins' horror and sadness. Even after weeks pass, Isaiah does not consider Khaila his mother. Although he becomes increasingly withdrawn, he is also prone to violent public outbursts. Eventually, Khaila is desperate for Isaiah's happiness, and asks Margaret to step back in "for a little while... until he can understand." However, she insists she will also continue to be involved. The two mothers embrace each other, both proclaiming their love for Isaiah. The film ends with them together playing building blocks with their boy in a classroom.