Ray

"Ray" is an excellent movie. Jamie Foxx did a great job in the film and earned the Oscar for Best Actor--and he was excellent in the title role. The film also showed many of the warts in Ray Charles' life--such as affairs and drug abuse. However, as a history teacher, I should also point out that the film ignores just how dark and nasty a person Ray Charles was. In the film you hear about one failed marriage and one illegitimate child, but the truth was much darker--with 12 children by 9 different mothers and an additional marriage. I really think talking about this would have improved the film--showing the extreme contrast between a man who could sing songs that delight millions and yet, personally, he was a mess. It also would have been more truthful--a serious problem with most bio-pics. But I should at least admire that the film is not a total white-wash but addresses some of his dark past. Plus, the production values were great and the film was never dull. Excellent and well worth seeing.

By the way, you'll probably notice that my review is pretty short considering how big a hit the film was and what an epic film it was. Well, there are already TONS of reviews for the movie and so I chose just to focus on the historical aspects of the film.

My wife wanted to see this movie and I grudgingly went along. I have never been a big fan of the biopic - believing that cinema is more exciting when it isn't structured in non-fiction. Beyond that, although I like Ray Charles' music just fine, I don't consider myself a fan of him or his music.

I expected to either suffer or coast through this movie.

I was wrong.

This is an engaging story told in a classic cinematic style. The realism is in the nuances - the tilt of a character's head after a dramatic moment or the look in their eyes while they sing. I literally discovered myself involved in this movie during the course of viewing it.

Jaime Foxx, of which much has been said, heads a cast of immaculate re-creators of not just a time, but an ERA, a LIFE that never really existed to those of us under forty. This movie sinks the audience into time without the gimmicks and grand sweeping panoramas of Titanic or other period pieces of that ilk. This movie doesn't present you with the 50's and 60's music scene, it takes you there.

This is a movie about Ray Charles, but your appreciate of it should not be limited to the story of his life. This is the kind of movie, like Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's List, that does what a movie should do - bring you to another place, another time.

Taylor Hackford wanted to make this movie for 15 years, and finally found Jamie Foxx to play the title role. Foxx is amazing in his portrayal of Ray Charles. From an interview I saw with Foxx, he met Charles several times and the two of them also played piano together (Foxx had piano lessons as a young child and actually played piano in all his scenes). I didn't see Charles live until his later years, so it was great to get a perspective on how his career developed. I hope Foxx gets nominated for the Best Actor Oscar as he certainly deserves it. The music, also, is incredible - it really showcases the breadth of Charles' music, from country to blues, and everything in between. The movie also gives an unblemished account of Ray Charles' life, from the many women he had relationships with to his drug habit and the consequences of that.

First of all, it is sheer joy to hear the legend perform such wonderful and timeless music. This movie and soundtrack is a tour de force. Ray Charles is unique and amazing. I truly adored the film as it was inspiring and entertaining throughout.

Jamie Foxx has become one of the premiere actors in Hollywood as is clearly shown in Ray and he should get an Oscar for this role, it is unprecedented. In fact, everyone who worked on this film should receive accolades. I really liked Kerry Washington who played the exceptional wife...Ray Charles obviously married well. Regina King is a fine actress as well as the extraordinary Sharon Warren who plays a struggling young mother.

In all honesty, I'd say this whole project was providentially arranged. The entire cast was perfect, great screenplay and awesome settings...major props to the director Taylor Hackford and crew for doing such a splendid job in bringing the life of Ray Charles to the screen so flawlessly. This is my picture of the year, certainly one of the best biographical films ever made.

RAY is pretty much Hollywood Formula; The story of one man's struggle and ultimate success... There are the cursory scenes showing the struggles, temptations, successes, and heartbreaks. What makes this film stand out above it all are the performances, and the fact that Ray Charles Robinson's story, no matter how formulaic, is pretty dog-gone interesting...

Jamie Foxx turns in one of the great performances of this or any year - His Ray is real in the sense that we just accept the fact that yes, we are watching Ray Charles. This is acting at its best. Those in supporting roles are equally strong - conveying all the emotion, support, and deceit that surrounded a man like Ray. The key components of Ray's childhood, which affect his choices, both good and bad as a man, are told hauntingly through flashback; the Florida landscape looks beautiful through the eye of the lens (Great cinematography!)...The screenplay is faithful to RAY's life; there is no sugarcoating - RAY looks unflinchingly in the mirror and makes no apologies.

My wife was not eager to see Ray...When I pulled the DVD and fired it up in our room, her first reaction was "Ahh Gee...do we have to?" She got up and did a few things while the opening sequence rolled with credits. When she came back in, I put the film to the beginning and told her, "If you're not interested by the time the opening credits end, we'll turn it off." Needless to say, we both sat through the whole thing riveted, with my wife saying Ray is now one of her favorites... Strongly Recommended!