John-442

It's no secret that this is a very good movie and I'm not sure if I have anything new or interesting to say about it (but I'll try anyway). Some of Ray Charles' songs were part of the soundtrack of my youth, but I didn't really consider myself a fan of his. So this movie was quite a revelation. It's a commercial film and it does have some biopic clichés. But it's well-crafted and to see and listen to it is a riveting experience. From the perspective of the present time, one of its many pleasures is that we get to see the emergence of a new generation of black actors (a term I use to include women also). Jamie Foxx is wonderful but so too are the supporting actors. We will be seeing and hearing a lot more from the talent in this one film. It holds out a clear promise of more filmic excitement to come.

Many years have elapsed since David Lean's 1965 film, but it was one of the last great epics, with every performance a tough act to follow. How could they remake it??? (My comment here is based only on the first half.) The remake works better than one might think. The crowd scenes are a tad cheesy, interspersing old documentary footage with new scenes of no more than 30 people. However, the actors -who are not well known to American audiences- seem to have liberated themselves from the need to 'follow.' Their performances are not at all slavish. The characters in the new version are written with more awareness of self and others. While Lara's mother is still in some denial, the other characters, particularly Lara, know the score. And the viewer knows they know. The David Lean film had some intentional obliviousness, no doubt due to the fact that the sexual revolution was not exactly in full swing then. Anyway, this heightened awareness of the major characters represents a fascinating new take on classic material. Even if you adored the original and can't imagine a remake, you might get caught up.

Basically I think viewers know what this movie is about before we see it. So we don't go to see what it's about, we go more to see how it's done, and the answer here is amazingly well. If you didn't recognize Holly Hunter and Evan Rachel Wood, you'd think it was a documentary. Actually I think you do become sort of less conscious that they are Holly Hunter and Evan Rachel Wood. The direction won an award at Sundance. This movie deserves to rack up a few more prizes.