Losing Isaiah (2003, DVD)

Losing Isaiah (1995) is a gripping story directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal that gives a glimpse of two mothers who meet through extremely difficult circumstances and their involvement with the adoption care system. The child is placed in a box by his birth mother next to a dumpster for safe keeping as she pursues her cocaine addicted lifestyle. The movie unfolds showing how the drug addicted mother Khaila Richardson (Halle Berry) ends up depositing her child in a box for safe keeping. When the garbage in the alley is collected the next morning, the child almost meets a most uncertain fate but is.

"Losing Isaiah" will make you think that you're watching a Lifetime Network movie. It deals with one of those hot button topics that are made-for-television fodder: A drug-addicted African-American woman abandons her baby, who is subsequently adopted by a successful white couple. A few years later she gets clean and wants the baby back. This scenario has been played out in many real-life courts, although this movie is not based on any of those cases. It's a tear jerker that plays it fair for both sides. You feel the anguish of both parties: Jessica Lange, who took in the abandoned infant,...

I would like to recommend "Losing Isaiah" to anyone who loves drama/documentaries, works in the human service profession, or just has a tender heart for children. =) It will definitely make an impact on your life in some way. It is thought-provoking, enthralling, and will definitely leave you "glued to your seat" at times. Having seen the movie twice on TV now, I feel that it is one of most touching dramas that I've seen in a long time. It is very emotional, and will leave you angry at times. It focuses on a very controversial issue: inter-racial adoption. Although there is a tiny bit of bias.

Imagine waking up one morning only to find out that your child is missing. You search frantically all over to find him, but he's not where to be found. After a while you begin to believe he's dead. That's what happened to Khalia Richards in this 1995 drama called Losing Isaiah. Halle Berry plays Khalia Richards, a junkie who cleans herself up after learning that the son she thought was dead is still alive, and living with another family. This film deals with many important issues in our society. The first being the issue of race. Isaiah is a black child, who is adopted by a white family. The..