Losing Isaiah (1995)

The natural and adoptive mothers of a young boy are involved in a bitter, controversial custody battle.

Director:

Stephen Gyllenhaal

Writers:

Seth Margolis (novel), Naomi Foner (screenplay)

Stars:

Jessica Lange, Halle Berry, David Strathairn

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jessica Lange	...	Margaret Lewin
Halle Berry	...	Khaila Richards
David Strathairn	...	Charles Lewin
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Eddie Hughes
Daisy Eagan	...	Hannah Lewin
Marc John Jefferies	...	Isaiah
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Kadar Lewis
Joie Lee	...	Marie
Regina Taylor	...	Gussie
LaTanya Richardson Jackson	...	Caroline Jones (as LaTanya Richardson)
Jacqueline Brookes	...	Judge Silbowitz
Donovon Ian H. McKnight	...	Amir
Rikkia A. Smith	...	Josie
Paulette McDaniels	...	Ethel
Velma Austin	...	Rehab Leader

Storyline

An African-American baby, abandoned by his crack addicted mother is adopted by a white social worker and her husband. Several years later, the baby's mother finds out her son is not dead, as she thought before and goes to court to get him back.

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Plot Keywords:

baby | custody battle | social worker | cartoon on tv | female protagonist | 

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Taglines:

Who decides what makes a mother?

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug related material and brief strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 March 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Les chemins de l'amour

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$7,603,766

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$900,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally shot for television.

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Goofs

Khaila could not have known that Isaiah "liked to play with blocks", since she had not had him with her while he was growing up from infancy, and he'd always just sullenly moped around whenever he was at her apartment and never wanted to play or interact with the other children at day-care, so Khaila would never have seen Isaiah when he was truly just "at play" and thus learned what toys were his favorites.

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Quotes

Khaila Richards: What is it you don't want him to know, huh? That his mother is as black as he is?
Margaret Lewin: [sneering] "Black!" All you people think about is color!
Khaila Richards: You people? You *people*? Well, you better look around, cause me and Isaiah, we the same kind of people. Or didn't you notice?

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Outbreak/Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh/Bye Bye Love/Losing Isaiah/Farinelli (1995)

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Soundtracks

Jesus On The Main Line
Traditional

User Reviews

gives perspective

Try watching this movie sometime with a white woman who is the adoptive mother of an African-American child. I happen to baby-sit such a family and watched the movie with the kids' mother. I don't know how she sat through it without throwing something at the screen-not that this is necessarily a criticism. This film is very thought-provoking, though I think for the wrong reasons. The main focus is all about color and whether people should raise children of different races. Jessica Lange's character had a small speech in the courtroom about how love makes a family more than race, but it was just glossed over and the focus of the film went right back to race defining families. Maybe I just see this differently because of my close association with a family where the parents and one child are white and the other child is not, but family is not about race-corny as this may sound, it really is about love and support. The ending, as some other reviewers have said, is very wishy-washy. My viewing companion and her husband, who joined us at the end, liked it because they want to have a good relationship with their daughter's birth mother. I agree with them on that, but if the movie is going to deal with legalities so much, it should resolve those legalities at the end of the movie.