Losing Isaiah

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Losing Isaiah
The movie poster for Losing Isaiah.
Directed by	Stephen Gyllenhaal
Produced by	Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal Hawk Koch
Written by	Seth Margolis (novel) Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal (screenplay)
Starring	Jessica Lange Halle Berry
Music by	Mark Isham
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	March 17, 1995
Running time	111 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$17,000,000 (estimated)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Losing Isaiah is a 1995 drama film starring Jessica Lange and Halle Berry, directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal. It is based on the novel with the same name by Seth Margolis. The screenplay is written by Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal. The original music score is composed by Mark Isham. The film is marketed with the tagline "Who decides what makes a mother?"

[edit] Plot summary

Jessica Lange is Margaret Lewin, a white social worker who works in a hospital. Halle Berry is Khaila Richards, a black drug addict who is addicted to crack cocaine. The film starts with her breastfeeding her baby in an abandoned squat. As she lays the child down to leave, the other squatters tell her that she can't leave the baby there crying. Khaila takes the child outside and hides him in a box in the trash so that she can go get high. She promises to come back, puts a board over the box, and leaves. The next morning, the trash is being collected and everything is thrown in the garbage truck, but at the last moment the workers hear a baby crying and he gets rushed to the hospital.

At the hospital, Margaret a social worker finds out he was born crack addicted and that his name is Isaiah. She develops a strong bond with him and decides to bring him home to live with her husband and daughter. In the meanwhile, Khaila wakes up and notices that her breasts are leaking milk but that her baby is not there. She runs to the garbage hysterical and starts rooting through the trash looking for Isaiah. A bum comes out and tells her to leave saying that there had been enough ruckus that morning with police talking about dead babies. After realizing what has happened, she leaves. Later that night, she is arrested for shoplifting and enters a rehab program.

The film cuts to three years later and Isaiah has been officially adopted by the Lewins. Khaila is clean and rents a room in an apartment. She goes to a facility and meets her case worker who is teaching her to read. While reading a book about a pregnant woman, she breaks down and confesses to her caseworker that she threw her baby away in the trash. Khaila then learns through her caseworker that her baby is still alive, so they hire lawyer Kadar Lewis (played by Samuel L. Jackson) to contest the adoption. A lengthy court battle ensues which quickly turns into a battle of black and white. In the end, the court decides to give custody back to Khaila. Isaiah fights when forced to leave the Lewins and doesn't adjust to living with Khaila. Khaila eventually calls Margaret and tells her that she is going to let Isaiah live with them until he understands what's going on. She states that all she cares about is Isaiah and she wants him to be happy. Margaret and Khaila hug and walk in as Isaiah runs and embraces Margaret. The three sit down and watch Isaiah play as the screen zooms out

[edit] Main cast

Actor	Role
Jessica Lange	Margaret Lewin
Halle Berry	Khaila Richards
David Strathairn	Charles Lewin
Cuba Gooding, Jr.	Eddie Hughes
Daisy Eagan	Hannah Lewin
Samuel L. Jackson	Kadar Lewis
Joie Lee	Marie
Regina Taylor	Gussie
Latanya Richardson	Caroline Jones
Jacqueline Brookes	Judge Silbowitz