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Losing Isaiah | 
| Director: Stephen Gyllenhaal
Actors: Jessica Lange, Halle Berry, David Strathairn, Cuba Gooding Jr., Daisy Eagan
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $3.49
You Save: $6.49 (65%)
New (9) Used (18) from $3.49
Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 12715
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D328364D
ISBN: 0792190726
UPC: 097363283645
EAN: 9780792190721
ASIN: B0000A2ZNM
Theatrical Release Date: March 17, 1995
Release Date: September 9, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
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 attributes 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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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
 fine drama with great acting April 22, 2009
Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Losing Isaiah is a fine movie with drama and suspense; the acting from this wonderful cast is very convincing, too. The choreography and the cinematography are both excellent and although they could have cut a minute or two here and there the plot moves along at a very good pace.
When the action starts, we see crack addicted mother Khaila Richards (Halle Berry) putting her newborn baby Isaiah in a dumpster while she wanders off to get more crack. The next morning the garbage men discover the infant; and Isaiah is taken to a hospital where social worker Margaret Lewin (Jessica Lange) works. Margaret almost instantly takes an interest in the adorable newborn baby and she convinces her husband Charles (David Strathairn) to take in Isaiah and raise him as their own along with their biological daughter Hannah (Daisy Eagan). The fact that Isaiah is African American and the Lewins are white doesn't enter into Margaret's mind; although this might raise some issues down the road.
Meanwhile, Khaila enters a rehab program and she even gets out of jail a bit early for completing the program successfully. Khaila thinks that when she threw Isaiah in the dumpster that night she killed him; but when her own social worker Gussie (Regina Taylor) informs her that now three year old Isaiah (Marc John Jefferies) is in actuality still alive and legally adopted by the Lewins, Khaila instantly wants Isaiah back. Gussie cautions Khaila that this won't be easy; and Khaila's pro bono lawyer Kadar Lewis (Samuel L. Jackson) warns Khaila that there could be some bumps in court along the way in a custody fight.
But Khaila desperately wants Isaiah back. She learns to read, finds herself an apartment in a low income housing project and fixes the place up with the advice of her attorney. She begins a romantic relationship with Eddie Hughes (Cuba Gooding, Jr.); but her lawyer tells Khaila to cool it with Eddie because he's married. When Khaila does this just as she's told, we see that nothing will stop her from fighting to get Isaiah back.
The court trial is full of suspense and political correctness issues soon come up along with the important issues of raising a black child to know his heritage despite the fact that he is in a white home with no black children's stories to read, black heroes to admire or black friends ever at the Lewin's dinner table. However, just when you think the ending is clear there's a curve ball surprise right at the very end of the picture that really packs a punch.
Losing Isaiah is one of those truly remarkable films that choose to deal with an ongoing dilemma in society that cannot be easily resolved. The only negative I can think of is that I would have liked the film to have a scene in which they ask Isaiah what HE would like; but then again the answer to that question becomes somewhat clearer at the end of the film. I highly recommend this film for fans of the actors in this movie; and people interested in social issues and the issues regarding adoption will want to get this DVD as well.
 Heart-wrenching Loss June 5, 2008
Laurel-Rain Snow - Raine- (Fresno, California)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This movie is one of my favorites...one which I shared with foster parents in my professional capacity as a social worker.
We see the inevitable pull between birth mother and adoptive mother, cheering for each even as the tug nears its conclusion.
One of the downsides of this movie is the abrupt separation between the adoptive mother and the child. In my social worker capacity, I was able to orchestrate a more gradual reunification.
However, this is a movie and the drama depends upon the gut-wrenching loss.
Well worth the time and tears.
losing isaiah February 27, 2007
Yadira Diaz (bronx, ny usa)
is a powerful movie to watch and learn about love of a different race..
 losing isaiah July 4, 2006
LuckeLaydieD (New York, NY)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Very nice heart touching story. Sadly there are also real stories like this one that don't normally have this happy ending, but the story does touch a lot of hearts. I enjoyed it.
superb July 2, 2006
Bonnie Hammer
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Losing Isaiah Is the best from Hallie Berry. It is the best i have seen in a long long time. I wish ms.berry won an award for this film. ms.berry did well on this as crack addict trying to regain custody of her son. I like how she was tough to jessica lange and her husband. samuel l. jackson did well too as ms. berry's attorney. I didnt like jessica lange and her husband were nasty to ms.berry
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