Overall Rating
 Awesome: 26.43%
Worth A Look: 54.29%
Just Average: 12.14%
Pretty Crappy: 5%
Sucks: 2.14%
10 reviews, 80 user ratings
|
|
| Ray |
by Jay Seaver
"Does what one expects of a good biopic. Not much else, but does that well."
|
Ray doesn't quite avoid the pitfall that destroys most biopics; it's quite willing to reduce a complicated life to a simple theme. In this case, that theme is Ray Charles's mother told him not to let anything make him a cripple, but he eventually had to overcome heroin addiction in order to make good on that. It's still an enjoyable movie, though, because around the life lesson we're expected to extract from the subject's life, there's a bunch of little details.Little things like name-dropping Tom Dowd. Only a small group of music experts and what meager group of us saw Tom Dowd and the Language of Music would likely notice if they got the name of Atlantic's recording engineer wrong, but they get it right. Would that more movies realized that paying attention to details has no downside, and the upside that the people in the audience who care about these details look upon the movie more favorably.
I've mentioned in other reviews, such as the one for the Tom Dowd movie, that Dan is the Seaver brother with the vast musical talent (I had to settle for math), and Ray hits the right combination of making things comprehensible to tin-eared ignorami like myself and not sounding patronizing. Ray's early talent for mimicry is made interesting, as is his absorption of gospel and country & western which contributes to his unique sound just as much as jazz and blues. Bits of musical production that normally wouldn't interest me are used for characterization, too - Tom Dowd introducing Ray to eight-track recording isn't just a nifty bit of biographical trivia, it's a means to show the audience that Ray could be more than a bit of a control freak and was willing to cast aside people who'd been with him for some time.
That warts-and-all portrayal is another part of what makes this movie so watchable. It's not just showing a beloved figure as a drug addict and womanizer - in real life, Ray Charles has seldom been shy about admitting those failings. That he was willing to be a bit of a bastard, ending professional relationships with longtime associates because it was good business, is probably the more surprising, and off-putting side of him. There's something a little monstrous-feeling about those scenes, with all-business declarations coming out of that familiar, smiling face.
Jamie Foxx was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Ray Charles, and I won't necessarily argue with it. It's not the best nominated performance, and it sometimes feels like Foxx is hitting the same note over and over again. Still, one seldom looks at the screen and sees Jamie Foxx instead of Ray Charles. The biggest flaw in the role is that it's sometimes a little jarring to go from Jamie Foxx's speaking voice to Ray Charles singing - Foxx never really gets any gravel to his voice, but that's perhaps a good thing - trying to speak in Ray's familiar rough voice might have bumped it from a portrayal to a mere imitation.
Thankfully, Foxx doesn't blow the rest of the cast off the screen. Kerry Washington is excellent as Ray's wife of 22 years, Della Bea (although the film conveniently omits his first wife and a scene in 1979 doesn't reflect their divorce); Regina King and Aunjanue Ellis are fine as two of his long-time backup singers and mistresses. Clifton Powell is a strong presence in the inevitable "long-time friend and assistant" role.
It's surprising to me that it took Taylor Hackford a decade and a half to get this film made, ultimately shooting it independently and then having a hard time finding a studio before Universal picked it up. I have to believe it was Hackford himself that unnerved the studios (despite his unfortunate name and less-than-sterling track record, he does deliver solid work here); the idea of a Ray Charles biopic itself seems commercial as all heck. Everyone loves Ray Charles; his music shows up in places as varied as blues clubs, Diet Pepsi commercials, and sci-fi anime, and his story is compelling. The other explanation is that an expensive biopic with an almost all-black cast got them worried; I hope that's not the case.
Ray is up for a number of Oscars, although it's not the strongest in any category. Well, maybe editing - it's a two-and-a-half hour movie that doesn't seem to go on forever and whose ending comes before the film has worn out its welcome. Paul Hirsch deserves a shout-out, especially considering all the music he and the other filmmakers managed to fit in without making the movie feel bloated.Ray doesn't break new ground for the biopic, but it executes very well. It is, in many ways, what The Aviator isn't - a well-chosen combination of profilee, actor, and filmmaker with a passion for the subject.
link directly to this review at https://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/review.php?movie=10361&reviewer=371
originally posted: 01/30/05 21:21:33
![[printer]](/images/icon/printer.gif) printer-friendly format
|
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Starz Denver Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Starz Denver Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Toronto Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Toronto Film Festival series, click here.
|
 |
USA
29-Oct-2004 (PG-13)
DVD: 01-Feb-2005
UK
N/A
Australia
26-Jan-2005
|
|
Articles 
subscribe to this feed![[AllPosters.com]](/images/icon/ap.gif){kind=icon}
