I have nothing against Ray Charles, but I can't say that I was ever into his music. Prior to seeing the movie, I knew who he was, and I was familiar with his eccentric mannerisms, but I didn't know much else about him or his music. I ignorantly thought that he was just another blues singer. I couldn't have been more wrong. This movie showed me that he was much more versatile than that, and I also learned that I like his music. There were a couple of songs in the film that I've always liked, but never realized that he sang. As for the songs in the film I never heard of, I enjoyed those, too. I don't think I'll go out and buy every single one of his CDs (there are quite a few), but I might get one of his "Greatest Hits," and I'm definitely gonna buy the soundtrack for the film. His music is really good!
Okay, now for something negative. I always do research on a movie after I watch it and before I review it. This ensures that the facts in my review are accurate, and I also end up learning stuff about the film that I can add to my review. Unfortunately, in doing that, I sometimes find out stuff that leaves me disappointed, especially when the movie is based on a true story. "Ray" is a good example. I watched the movie, and I really liked it, but after I did some research, I found out that a lot of what was in the movie was generalized, sanitized, and sentimentalized. As complex as Ray Charles was as depicted in the film, the real Ray Charles was even more complex, for better or worse. The movie is a Hollywood version of the life of Ray Charles, but it's still a damn good movie. And it's not like the movie did nothing right. The movie accurately gets into Ray Charles' contribution to music, it doesn't portray him as a saint, and it cast Jamie Foxx as the legendary musician. Wow, what a performance.
Jamie Foxx broke into showbiz when he was cast in the groundbreaking comedy show, "In Living Color," and that was my introduction to him (I was a huge fan of the show). He was in a couple of comedy films a short time after that, and then he got his own TV show, "The Jamie Foxx Show," where he also did some writing and directing. It lasted several seasons, but I never got into it. Lately, he's been doing more drama than comedy, and his acting has kept the industry buzzing. He turned heads in Oliver Stone's film "Any Given Sunday," Foxx's performance got people talking. Then he was cast in "Ali," and even though it wasn't a starring role, he stood out. He's also did some comedies during that time, but no one seemed interested in his comedies. A few months ago, he was in "Collateral" opposite Tom Cruise, which I didn't see (I'll see it on DVD, though). Again, people were praising his performance. Foxx's dramatic turns have gotten him lots of critical acclaim, but not as much as he's gotten with his performance in "Ray." This one will earn him his first Oscar nomination, and he might just win it. By the way, in case you don't know, Jamie Foxx played the piano in all of the scenes himself. He studied classical piano years ago at Julliard.
There are quite a few other notable performances in the film, including Kerry Washington as Ray Charles' extraordinarily forgiving wife, Regina King as one of the backup singers who he has an affair with, and Larenz Tate, who plays another legend, Quincy Jones. Unfortunately, he's not in the film very much. Do any of you remember "Booger" from "Revenge of the Nerds"? Well, his name is Curtis Armstrong, and he's also in the movie. He's really good, too. It's good to see that "Booger" is still acting.
There's one other person in the film whose acting should be mentioned. With "Ray," she's making her feature film acting debut, and it's an incredible, heart-wrenching performance. Sharon Warren plays Ray Charles' mother in the movie, and her performance is awesome. I hope to see a lot more of her in the future, she's extremely talented.
"Ray" was directed by Taylor Hackford, whose directing credits include "The Devil's Advocate," "Dolores Claiborne," and "An Officer and a Gentleman," among others. It's probably important to mention that he also directed the documentary "Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll," so he has some experience directing movies about extremely talented musicians. I like how Taylor Hackford directed "Ray." It was fast-paced, energetic, and never boring. As for the screenplay, it was written by James L. White (his debut), and the story was by Hackford (first time getting writing credit) and White. I like the screenplay, but it's a shame that so much was left out. Reading more about Ray Charles, there were a lot of significant things that occurred during his life that should have been covered, including the death of his mother and the many things he learned at the school he attended for blind children. Also, it seems like quite a few characters were misrepresented. I guess when you have to squeeze an entire lifetime into two and a half hours, you have to make compromises. It's a shame, 'cause I think this could have been a better film if more was included. I'm interested in learning more about the life of Ray Charles, so I'm gonna go ahead and buy his autobiography, "Brother Ray" (co-authored by David Ritz). If you'd like to know more about the REAL Ray Charles, perhaps you should do the same.
Ray Charles died of liver failure on June 10, 2004, while the movie was in post-production. It's very sad that he died, but he left behind some great music, and despite the many problems with accuracy, the movie will probably give him some new fans. Including me.
Scale of 1-10: 8