The chronicles of Ray

Rating: 10/10 (9 March 2005)

As far as music star biopics go, you could be able to compare Ray to something like The Buddy Holly Story. First and foremost, you have an actor that gives an excellent performance and totally embodies the look, style, and soul of the film's subject. Jamie Foxx does this for Ray Charles, as Gary Busey did for Buddy Holly. The concern for story is your basic rise to fame and personal life aspects. The film portrays Ray's drug addictions, affairs, and flashbacks of his past with a sincere interest. And, occupying nearly half of the film is the great music of Ray Charles. Whether it's a scene with Ray in the studio, playing at a concert, or just in the background, we get to hear some of his best music.
Taylor Hackford doesn't really take an excessive amount of artistic license in bringing the Ray Charles story to the screen, and I guess it's appropriate. This film is a celebration of the man's life, and it gently lays down events, the good and the bad. Hackford's vision tries to show Ray's struggle with the guilt for his brother's death, which turns him to drugs, which leads to worse things. Some great success and fame occur in between all of this, and by the end, this is all resolved in a sort of cheesy way, but the main point is a powerful one.
The guilt aspect was the only "angle" I can really think of that Hackford uses to justify character choices/development. Take for example the scene in Georgia when Ray refuses to perform because the audience is segregated. It seems as if he makes the decision on a whim. We're never given any insight to Ray's stance on racial equity except that in the next scene he says the incident in Georgia was not right. So, I guess what they were going for was that Ray needed to do something- anything- to redeem himself and he took the first opportunity he could get. Whether that's the way it was in real life or not, that's the way it is in this movie.
Ray is a success because you can tell that everyone involved with it had a great love for Ray Charles and his music, and wanted to do the best job possible. They did. The story of his life is such an amazing one, and it was told with great talent, skill, and love.
My rating: 10/10