Ray (2004)

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Directed by Taylor Hackford.

Starring Curtis Armstrong, Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Clifton Powell, Aunjanue Ellis, Kerry Washington.

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Directed by Taylor Hackford, this biopic profiles the life of legendary musician Ray Charles. Despite humble beginnings and the loss of his eyesight due to glaucoma at the age of six, Charles, depicted by Jamie Foxx, would nonetheless become an icon in both the music industry and the civil rights era. While the film delves into his problems with drugs and women, the bulk of the story details his career; among the highlights of that career are 12 Grammy awards and 11 R&B chart-toppers, such as "Unchain My Heart," "Hit the Road, Jack," "Georgia," "Doin' the Mess Around," and "Hallelujah I Just Love Her So." Also among the cast are Larenz Tate as Quincy Jones, as well as Regina King, Kerry Washington, and Clifton Powell. Charles' son, Ray Charles Jr. helped produce the film. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Trade Roughage 1/22/08
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com

hasn't rated it.

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"The Oscar nominations have been announced, and because we all need to complain about at least one thing every year, let my gripe be with the Jonny Greenwood snub (apparently his score was disqualified). Karina will be sharing her own analysis later today. Stay tuned. It’s been a serious topic that Sundance isn’t the buying frenzy we all thought it would be. But when distributors talk about a filmmaker needing to pay them, it’s really a bad time for the festival. I guess if one of the Jarecki brothers has to abandon documentary filmmaking for a feature debut starring Kirsten Dunst and Ryan Gosling, I’d rather it be Andrew (Capturing the Friedmans) than Eugene (Why We Fight), even if the trailer for All Good Things will be able to sneakily advertise the film as being “From Oscar-nominated director Andrew Jarecki.” Adrian Brody as Leonard Chess and Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters may be the best recording exec/recording artist casting pair-up since Ray’s Curtis Armstrong and Jamie Fox ... " [More]

Re: Top Five Movies About Music
by Windbreaker in Top 5

hasn't rated it.

"Almost Famous ranks in the top few of my all-time favorite movies, so naturally it fits this bill also. Past #1, the order means nothing. Glad you posted about Once - that's the first I've heard of it.1. Almost Famous2. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster3. That Thing You Do4. Immortal Beloved5. Ray " [More]

Ray
by MovieBabe in MovieBabe Blog

hasn't rated it.

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"By Tricia Olszewski It’s official: Ugly Wanda has left the building. Over the past year, Jamie Foxx, In Living Color clown and Booty Call playa, has slowly shed the stoopidity with surprisingly understated and charismatic roles in Breakin’ All the Rules (whose trailer suggested a Booty Redial) and Collateral (in which he outshone Tom Cruise). But it’s still somewhat shocking to witness his jaw-dropping transformation in Ray: For the bulk of Taylor Hackford’s two-and-a-half-hour biopic, the comedian is Ray Charles. As Hackford chronicles Charles’ life from the beginning of his career in the late ’40s through his mid-’60s heyday, Foxx does more than don the trademark sunglasses and affect a Weeble-esque sway at the piano. His physical resemblance to Charles aside, Foxx flawlessly re-creates the “blind ’Bama boy”’s suspicious, stubborn, and fiercely independent public persona as well his unique speaking style, often sc ... " [More]

Ray
by JimBell in JimBell Blog

liked it.

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"Ray (2004) tells the story of the first half of Ray Charles’ life. This is a good but not great movie, and well worth watching if you like Ray’s soulful music (I do). It is good because the characters are vivid—Ray’s first predatory manager, Ray’s straight-living wife Bea, Ray’s passionate lover on the road, Ray’s tough and loving mother. The film also evokes the era wonderfully. Not that I know first-hand what a rural, black village in Florida was like in the Depression, but the weathered buildings, the dirt roads, and the darting, barefooted kids seem authentic. The same for the post-War clubs—instead of beautiful set pieces, we see well-used dives with a variety of people, good looking and plain, lithe and fat, black and even a few white. The movie would have been great if it had gone beyond telling the story and explored why Ray was doing what he was doing. He was using heroin because his isolation as a blind man and, secondarily ... " [More]

A really great movie
by hi3 in hi3 Blog

liked it.

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"Jamie foxx has made a memobrable performace as the biggest singer in all of sensation. He won an oscar for his performace. This is one of the greatest movies i saw in 2004. I wanted it to win best picture. But "crash" has stole it's thunder.p.s. CRASH SUCKS!!! " [More]

Great Flick
by wdecki68 in wdecki68 Blog

loved it.

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"Great entertainment. Loved it. Jamie Foxx was great! " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

liked it.

Taylor Hackford's Ray is at heart little more than a run-of-the mill biopic that hits all the familiar story points for that genre. What keeps this film from becoming totally pedestrian is the fierce, commanding performance of Jamie Foxx. This is not an impersonation of Ray Charles, nor is it a vain attempt to bask in the glow of Charles the celebrity. Foxx finds difficult emotional places to go to, and his Ray Charles is often more interesting than the one Hackford seems to want to tell the audience about. One can believe that these amazing songs are coming from this man, and that may be the biggest compliment one can pay to the performance. That point also leads to the other aspect of the film that keeps it afloat: the superb music. The film was made with Charles' approval, and he allowed the filmmakers to use his original recordings. Had this been a play, a one-man show with the same music, it would make for a fascinating and memorable evening. As he always does, Hackford fills his film with convention after convention, and in doing so, undercuts the real and complicated issues apparent both in Foxx and in the music. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Tags: music , Best-Actor , great-singing , overrated , biopic
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