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Ray [2004]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Jamie Foxx's uncannily accurate performance isn't the only good thing about Ray. Riding high on a wave of Oscar buzz, Foxx proved himself worthy of all the hype by portraying blind R&B legend Ray Charles in a warts-and-all performance that Charles approved shortly before his death in June 2004. Despite a few dramatic embellishments of actual incidents (such as the suggestion that the accidental drowning of Charles's younger brother caused all the inner demons that Charles would battle into adulthood), the film does a remarkable job of summarising Charles's strengths as a musical innovator and his weaknesses as a philandering heroin addict who recorded some of his best songs while flying high as a kite. Foxx seems to be channeling Charles himself, and as he did with the life of Ritchie Valens in La Bamba, director Taylor Hackford gets most of the period details absolutely right as he chronicles Ray's rise from "chitlin circuit" performer in the early '50s to his much-deserved elevation to legendary status as one of the all-time great musicians. Foxx expertly lip-syncs to Ray Charles' classic recordings, but you could swear he's the real deal in a film that honors Ray Charles without sanitising his once-messy life. --Jeff Shannon

Editorial
Synopsis

Jamie Foxx stars in this biopic of legendary soul and R n' B singer Ray Charles. Skilfully edited and with a keen eye for period detail, the narrative weaves in and out of the past in an interlocking tapestry of the man's rise to fame in the 1950s and '60s. Growing up poor, black, and blind in the rural south, Charles learns under the tutelage of his tough-love mother (Sharon Warren) to turn these handicaps into assets. With this training, Ray eventually plays his way into a major deal with Atlantic records and earns icon status as an American legend. Along the way, the high cost of fame leads him to engage in abusive relationships, manipulative behaviour, and struggles with drug and alcohol problems. This is a dynamite film for the music alone (Charles's actual recordings are used in the film), but Foxx's career-benchmark performance transcends RAY's biopic roots, turning this into a piercing, full-on character study: unflinching, sometimes harrowing, and ultimately deeply moving. The sheer joy of Charles's music comes alive in Foxx's movements, and his character matures convincingly and powerfully. A stellar supporting cast is on hand to back him up every step of the way, including Larenz Tate as producer Quincy Jones, and Kerry Washington as Ray's long-suffering wife, Regina.

Moving and thought provoking
Review date: 2008-01-20 Rating: 10 out of 10

Ray is outstandingly performed by Foxx, who commands attention and plays to role superbly throughout. The directors have done a superb job on this film by grimly portraying Charles' administrative ruthlessness, his selfishness and his egotism. These are shown to be as important in the course of his life as his music.

This film could easily have been a sugary eulogy to a blind black man who triumphed against all odds. What we get instead is realism, human triumph and disaster and genuine highs and lows-pun intended.

The supporting cast are excellent although Ray's relationship with Fathead is left underdeveloped. Really, though, Foxx steals the show. An Oscar surely beckons.

The directors also should be praised for their graphic depiction of how money and talent- but mainly money- make an otherwise ordinary- even unusual- man very attractive to the opposite sex. This grim view of human materialism is pursued throughout. It is hard to remember any characters in the film who provide a stern moral backbone: Ray's mother, of course, is the main example, but she seems almost an irrelevance in her rustic setting, when Ray he jetsetting around the world. Are we to assume there are no profoundly moral people in the wider world away from Ray's childhood?

His wife is flawed by her dependence on him and his assistant- whom he overlooks before the end- is without an audible voice. Ray is beyond the control of a moral agency after the death of his mother. Is this his fault or the fault of those surrounding him? Blame must lie with both. Eventually, of course, Ray remembers his mother and regains a moral consciousness: but not before coniderable damage is done. The historical situation, of course, may have been rather different in this respect: who can know?

The prevailing message of this material is that Ray's power both focuses the spotlight on him AND isolates him. His blindness is an irrelevance. This is profound stuff, and by the standard of the usual eulogies to which this biopic will be compared, it is outstanding. This film sets a new standard which will leave future producers of biopics of the great, the interesting and the glorious much to ponder.

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Reviews


Ray
Review date: 2007-10-05 Rating: 10 out of 10

Ray is a brilliant film looking at the life of Ray Charles. Jamie Foxx does an excellent job of portraying the man and you get a real feeling for the times he performed in and what shaped his music. You get to see what motivated Ray Charles and most aspects of his character, both good and bad. Of course the soundtrack is amazing. I found myself completely engrossed throughout and the direction style reminded me of Ali in places, which is no bad thing as that film is superb also! Overall a great film, which should both entertain and move. Well worth a viewing.

Foxx's deserved Oscar
Review date: 2007-01-09 Rating: 8 out of 10

This proved far better than expected, despite being weighed down with the lumbering genre of biopic. The heavily downmarked price suggests it isn't selling, but you would do far better to invest your money in a copy of Ray than a thousand action flicks.

The film revolves around Jamie Foxx's remarkable portrayal of Ray Charles Robinson, though there is also a fine ensemble cast to support him. Foxx is perhaps somewhat over-endowed with muscle for the musician, but certainly deserved his best actor Oscar, and how often can you say that? He goes beyond mere mimickry, though the reproduction of Ray's gait, his mannerisms, his voice, everything, is total perfection.

What impressed me more was his communication of the motivations, especially the use of his brother's tragic death and his mother's insistence that he stood on his own two feet, despite his blindness and despite his ongoing heroin addiction and marital infidelity. In this respect Ray pulls no punches, and certainly his character flaws are displayed, warts and all.

The film's weaknesses are the usual ones for a biopic falling between two stools: too long to focus on key aspects of Ray Charles's life with precision, yet suffering the inevitable compromises of having to summarise a full life in two and a half hours. It's a pretty good attempt at this paradox, to be fair, helped by a strong script and direction that keeps you hooked. Recommended.

What can I say?
Review date: 2006-12-19 Rating: 8 out of 10

It is difficult to fault this movie. The acting is good. The music (at least to us - not Ray Charles fans) - seems good. The photography is good. There is a good story line.

But ...
For some reason the film did not have that extra edge that warrants a 5 star rating.
If pressed to say why, there is no specific reason - so probably this is subjective.
Therefore don't be put off by this review - watch the movie and come to your own conclusion.

This is based on watching the theatrical release on DVD. The DVD also contains an extended version, but we did not watch that - the ordinary movie is long enough - arguably too long!

Excellent - watch it!
Review date: 2006-03-01 Rating: 10 out of 10

I love biopics, and this was certainly no disappointment. Jamie Foxx is superb as Ray Charles, and completely plausible throughout.

I wasn't even a Ray Charles fan - not to start with, anyway. I got totally into his music as the film went on.

His womanizing, his drugs - the movie pulls no punches, and his long-suffering wife seems almost too good to be true; if anyone deserved a happy ending, she did.

All in all, a terrific movie with great acting and great music - definitely one worth watching.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Curtis Armstrong
Jamie Foxx
Regina King
Michael Arata
Kerry Washington

Creators:
Jamie Foxx (Primary Contributor)
Regina King (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Uca
Manufacturer: Uca
EAN: 5050582393675
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2008-09-01
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 146 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2004
Language: English (Original Language)

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