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Losing Isaiah

The book Losing Isaiah was made into the movie Losing Isaiah.

Which one did you like better, the book or the movie?  There are 7 votes for the book, and 6 votes for the movie.

Book details for Losing Isaiah

Losing Isaiah was written by Seth J. Margolis. The book was published in 1993 by Jove Books. More information on the book is available on Amazon.com.

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Movie details for Losing Isaiah

The movie was released in 1995 and directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal, who also directed Waterland (1992). Losing Isaiah was produced by Paramount. More information on the movie is available on Amazon.com and also IMDb.

Actors on this movie include Jessica Lange, Halle Berry, David Strathairn, Cuba Gooding Jr., Daisy Eagan, Marc John Jefferies, Samuel L. Jackson, Joie Lee, Regina Taylor, LaTanya Richardson, Jacqueline Brookes, Donovon Ian H. McKnight, Rikkia A. Smith, Paulette McDaniels, Velma Austin, Glenda Starr Kelly, Joan Kohn, Patrick Clear, Gabriella Santinelli and Mike Bacarella.

 

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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... Read More
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