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Movie: Ray
Starring Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington
Directed By Taylor Hackford
Written By James L. White (Universal)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes
Ray may reveal more than you want to know about a towering giant in American music, Ray Charles, but make no mistake, this movie is easily the best biopic out of Hollywood in years and a must see for anyone interested in music.
Director Taylor Hackford, who is no stranger to movies about music (he made "La Bamba" and "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll"), has done a masterful job in taking us back to the 40s, 50s and 60s. Little things are brought home like how controversial Ray originally was for bringing elements of gospel music into the bars and on the radio. Big things are brought home too, mainly the fact that Charles not only had to overcome blindness and segregation, he had to overcome heroin addiction too.
Ray is saturated with music but it's the way that Hackford uses the lyrics of Charles's songs themselves to highlight parts of the story that really shines here. Hackford relies on the great man's recordings themselves for the performances but the cinematography is spot on and the songs come alive like never before.
The only weak part of the movie is the lack of followup on some of the minor characters, like Ray's relationship with Quincy Jones (Larenz Tate) and his driver Jeff Brown (Clifton Brown). That's a minor complaint because Hackford draws out bravura performances from all his cast. Several male members of the band appear throughout the movie, but mostly it's the women who really light up the screen, especially Sharon Warren as his mother Aretha, Regina King as Margie Hendricks, and Aunjanue Ellis as Mary Ann Fisher, who was last seen as Sistah Girl in Undercover Brother, and of course Kerry Washington as Ray's wife Della Bee who was in Spike Lee's She Hate Me. Ray's interaction with them drives the whole movie.
We already knew Jamie Foxx was far more than just another refugee from In Living Color because of his work in On Any Given Sunday and Collateral but here he is simply golden. He already looks a lot like the man and plays piano in real life, but apparently he went so far as to have his eyelids glued shut all day during filming so to better inhabit the part. He also has the jivy cadence of Ray's speech down and copied the trademark self hugs and nervous scratchings perfectly. Foxx makes the entire movie one for the ages, and elevating the story of Ray Charles to where it deserves to be. Foxx probably has an Oscar in the bag for his performance and the film will certainly be a contender for best picture.
The Skinny:
Did I enjoy the movie? Mmmmmmm. MMMMMMM! Ohhh, OHHH! Mmm. MMM! Oh, OH! Mm. MM! Oh, OH!
Would I go to see it again? Tell me what d'I say!
© 2004 - Rusty Pipes