Customer Reviews

Losing Isaiah [VHS]

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Isaiah is known as one of the greatest prophets of Israel. Such is the case with this little African- American boy who was abandoned in the trash by his crack crazed mother. Three years later his mother, now clean, decides to reclaim her child. All of this sounds easy but little Isaiah has been adopted by a white social worker and her family and she is determined to keep him at all costs. The drama which unfolds before us is heart breaking as we attempt to decide what is in the best interest of this child.

Halle Berry, Jessica Lange And Samuel Jackson give outstanding performances in enacting the rivalry and possessive claims that both women have on this young toddler. Poverty versus Affluence, the feasibility of inter-racial adoptions, marital/parental stability (and responsibility) and the do gooder mentality are themes that run their course throughout the drama. All of these elements are dealt with in the drama and pulls the viewer from one woman's claim to the other. Who is right? Does pigmentation or culture matter? Above all, what has love got to do with it?

Social workers and judges in juvenile courts across the country are daily making these decisions of terminating parental rights and placing children in what they see as stable homes. Losing Isaiah is not a fantasy but a present reality. How to resolve these issues of custody is the dilemma for all involved. There are not any easy answers and unfortunately this film ends with an "easy" answer which isn't realistic.

The little Isaiah in the film, like his prophet namesake calls these adults to spiritual, moral and social accountability. His impact makes Margaret (the social worker) deal with what is going on in her marriage and family. Khaila, his mother, is forced to clean up her act and become a responsible parent who shows her compassion and love for all children. Both women lost Isaiah but both have come to grips with their own sense of self-esteem and awareness in their loss.

Perhaps the biggest complaint I have with custody battles is that they are ultimately based around the selfishness of the adults involved, whether it be a battle between the child's mother and father, or between the biological parent(s) and the foster parent(s). "Losing Isaiah" is an example of a movie that uses this sad truth to tell a compelling story.

Normally, I'd be quick to write off someone like Halle Berry's character (a former crack addict who abandoned her baby in an alley) as someone unfit to raise this child. I'd also be uneasy about tearing Isaiah away from the only home he's ever known. Thankfully, this film does not end there.

After the courtroom decision is rendered, we see a much different Isaiah than the playful, cheerful child we first encountered. Did anyone bother to stop and ask him what he wanted? In an ideal world, someone would have. Unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world, but at least we have people who (albeit a little slowly) realize this mistake in "Losing Isaiah." Were I to be given the assignment of filming a movie based around a custody battle, this is the kind of movie I would make.

Losing Isaiah is Halle Berry's best movie. I wish she had gotten the Oscar for this film because She gives a breakthrough performance here as a black drug addict who abandons her baby and struggles to get him back from the white mother (Jessica Lange) who adopted him. Other Noteworthy performances here are Samuel L. Jackson and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film is great, not playing race as an issue, but showing us people as human beings letting the events play and showing us the outcome. I highly recommend this film.

12/04/03 The movie ends with one line on the screen Isaiah 11:6 "and a little child shall lead them"...Supense is there from the moment that the child's biological mother*(played by actress Halle Berry*)) puts him in a cardboard box behind the "beastly room she has herself & he living in"; to him being rescued from the inside of a Muncipal Trash Truck " in the nick of time;to the ER representing itself as the life saving force of hospitals once more, in rescusitating him; with a woman* (of another race and her family adopting him)played by actress Jessica Lange*) saving him from an early life of "foster homes" ,his biological mother raising from her demons,pits and dens of self destruction",the courts ruling in favor of the biological mother (so he can be raised in the culture which is the reality that he must be groomed to realize)to an ending of the adoptee's mother and the biological mother going beyond "self" to be a team in helping him reach the age of reason and beyond as a sensible human.

For those of you that think Halle is just a pretty face...hopefully her Oscar winning performance in "Monster's Ball" showed you that she wasn't...but if you still have doubts this is a movie you should see. Halle is well deserving of an Oscar in this film as well, she plays a crack addicted homeless woman who loses it all and dumps her baby in the trash just so she can get a hit...when she comes out of her drug stooper she then realizes her mistake, but it's too late. The baby was adopted by a white family and she believes her baby to have died. The movie takes off from there, the white family raises and cares for the child. After Halle's character struggles but reforms herself she finds out that the child is still alive. Then the battle for who is rightfully the parent of the child begins. Some of the highlights here...Samuel L. Jackson's role as Halle's Lawyer and the scene in which the 2 "mothers" meet in the bathroom for the first time...that is a very powerful scene. The movie is a very powerful and moving piece of cinema. Excellent film.

Since I am adopted myself, I found this a interesting movie. Interestingly enough, the director presents both sides well, and doesn't seem too favor either. This is a relief considering many "political" films that come out today. Many of which, the director tries to brainwash you into thinking his way. (example: Republicans are evil) Instead the director allows you too form your own opinions. This is a heavy film and it will get you involved as well as raise many questions. Such as who is more of a mother? The one who gave birth or the one who raises him? And also just because you can give birth does that make you a mother?This film will leave some feeling that justice has been served, and others it will leave angry. However, this film doesn't have all the answers an it wisely ends unresolved, letting you form your own convictions. My conviction? Some people do not deserve children. But the beauty of this film is that it may leave you feeling otherwise, because it's not manipulative.

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. "Losing Isaiah" is a movie that attempts to deal honestly with the issues of interracial adoption. Halle Berry is compelling as the "gone straight" crack addict that threw her son away. Jessica Lang also gives a strong performance. For all the movies that waste our time, this one helps to make up for it. An interesting dilemma.

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.

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.

Losing Isaiah was one of the most thought provoking movies I have ever seen. The acting was better tnat good. You could feel what each character was feeling. It was as if I was right there with them. The content of the subject matter, is needed today. It was with many emotions that I viewed this movie. It leaves you thinking overcoming, recovery, compromise, and love are possible, no matter what you have been through. I would like a sequel. This is a must see movie.