A very respectable biopic

Rating: Null/10 (24 February 2005)

For devoted Ray Charles' fans, this movie may not be enough. For the mass audience within a general range of familiarity with this artist and his music, Ray is a very respectable biopic with good integrity (meaning completeness here), covering his music, his being blind and black, his drug addiction, his extra-marital relationships and his traumatic childhood experience.
HIS MUSIC comes first. Ray Charles Robinson ain't no "Sugar" Ray Robinson and without his music, he would most likely be one of the hundreds of indistinguishable contemporary Ray Robinsons. The movie traces through his exciting musical journey, starting with crooning of soft ballads until record producers suggest that people just are not going to be thrilled by having another Nat King Cole. Things start to take off with lively rock-style hits. Introduction of female vocal supports, first Mary Ann Fisher, then the trio headed by Margie Hendricks, adds exciting new dimensions to Ray's music. Marrying jazz and blues with traditional gospel music leads to some initial controversy, but eventual success. At the height of this tremendously popular trend, Ray suddenly turns to country and western, to the horror of his record company. The scene covering this change is brilliant. To a packed house clamoring for his exciting style of music, Ray, struggling against the noise and almost tentatively, speaks of his country background and starts singing in a relaxing style that's quite unfamiliar to the audience. For a moment, it looks like it's going to be a disaster when shrewd manager Joe Adams rises to the occasion, and on a count of 5, have all the lights in the auditorium dimmed except the spot light focusing on Ray. Right away the crowd quiets down and the beauty of Ray's country music surfaces, bringing the evening to a resounding success. All told, to devoted fans and new comers alike, the movie offers an evening of rich pleasure in Ray Charles' music.
BEING BLIND is what we've always associated Ray Charles with, so that we don't even consciously think about the difficulties this man has to face. This move is an apt reminder. Most amazing is that he does not even need a cane or a seeing-eye dog to get around. Just like how a bat navigates, the sound from the intentionally hollowed heel of his shoes bouncing off object allows him to steer clear of obstacles. This is truly amazing. His ears serve as his eyes, as shown in his date with Della Bea (soon to be his wife) when he shows her how to listen to the humming bird outside the window of the restaurant. On the lighter side is how he purportedly uses his feel to seek out beautiful women by simply fondling their wrists during a handshake.
How BEING BLACK is like at the time Ray Charles grew up is something that does not require much elaboration. One incident however is particularly dramatized, how at the height of the civil rights movement he withdraws from a concert in Georgia, costing him a breach of contract lawsuit and a ban for live from performing in Georgia. He is of course eventually vindicated when in the late 70s, Georgia offers a public apology and adopts his song "Georgia on my mind" as its State song. For dramatic effect, this scene is preceded by his chance meeting with Quincy Jones, who tries to persuade him not to perform in a state that still has segregation. Again for dramatic effect, his change of mind is presented as a spur of the moment decision, when he abruptly turns back at the plead of demonstrators.
COCAINE is the devil that Ray had to constantly fight until he successfully rids the addiction and never touched the stuff again "in the last forty years of his career". The movie does not shy away from depicting this negative side of this great artist, but also gives him due credit for the determination which enables him to finally win this agonizing and difficult battle.
His EXTRA-MARITAL AFFAIRS, with first Mary Ann Fisher and then Margie Hendricks, are given an appropriate among of attention in the movie. These are neither irrelevant nor overly dominating aspects of the man's life. Such relationships are by no means unusual for exceptionally talented and creative artists who spend a lot of time on the road. But Ray does not allow them to go so far as to break up his family. And the situation is helped by his being blessed with an exceptionally understanding and forgiving wife.
His CHILDHOOD is covered throughout the movie through flashbacks, as we gain insight into how the unfortunate accidental death of his younger brother and gritty determination of his mother influenced his life. However, I find the Freudian presentation of the final absolution in the end of the movie a bit of an overkill.
Whereas I have not seen Million Dollar Baby, I'll put Ray ahead of Finding Neverland and The Aviator, but behind Sideways in the Oscar Best Picture field, but I'll be very surprised if Jamie Foxx does not bring home the statuette. And he fully deserves it.