LOSING ISAIAH
A film review by Eric Grossman
Copyright 1995 LOS ANGELES INDEPENDENT
"Who gets the baby?" That's the first question everyone has asked me about the new, socially conscious drama, LOSING ISAIAH. Well, it would be wrong for me to tell, but I will say, the answer to the question and the process of getting there are both under-whelming.
Addicted to crack and living in the darkest shadows of the ghetto, Khaila Richards (Halle Berry) takes her infant son, Isaiah, and leaves him in a garbage can. Isaiah is nearly crunched in a trash-truck before being discovered and taken to a hospital where a social worker, Margaret Lewin (Jessica Lange), finds herself particularly taken with the baby boy. When Isaiah is not claimed, Margaret and her husband Charles (David Strathairn) decide to adopt him. Meanwhile, Khaila is arrested for shoplifting and lands in a drug-rehab program where she begins to turn her life around. Three years later, she is out of prison and working as a nanny when she learns that Isaiah is alive. Desperate to redeem herself and be the mother she meant to be, she turns to an activist lawyer, Kadar Lewis (Samuel L. Jackson), to help her get Isaiah back. Margaret and Charles, who have developed their own deep, loving relationship with Isaiah, hire their own attorney to fight Khaila. Sounds really dramatic, right? Well...
Filled with topical issues right off of a radio talk-show and powerful performances, LOSING ISAIAH will certainly spark conversation, but not too much. What is absent from this film is a point of view. Stephen Gyllenhaal (A DANGEROUS WOMAN) and screenwriter Naomi Foner (RUNNING ON EMPTY) attempt to placate everyone but in the end, they satisfy nobody. They should be commended for not succumbing to melodrama the way an Oliver Stone or a Spike Lee would have, but at the same time, at least these two filmmakers would have had a viewpoint.
In its fear of offending, LOSING ISAIAH falls remarkably flat for a movie with such volatile subject matter. Lange and Berry keep the movie afloat with their portrayals of the two mothers who desperately need the child, however, the pacing is slow and the courtroom scenes are filled with missed opportunities for dramatic tension.
Not without its plus side, the film has a well rounded supporting cast including Cuba Gooding Jr., Daisy Eagan, Regina Taylor and Marc John Jeffries who makes his debut as Isaiah. Good production values, especially the score by Mark Isham, give this film a much needed boost.
Who gets the baby? I can't tell you, but instead of seeing the movie, you should find someone who can.
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