Jamie Foxx gives an indelible turn as a music icon that gleams of Oscar gold.

Rating: Null/10 (1 November 2004)

RAY (2004) **** Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Sharon Warren, Curtis Armstrong, Richard Schiff, Kurt Fuller, Larenz Tate, Clifton Powell, Harry Lennix, Bokeem Woodbine, Aunjanue Ellis, David Krumholtz, Warwick Davis.(Dir : Taylor Hackford) Jamie Foxx gives an indelible turn as a music icon that gleams of Oscar gold.
Ray Charles was a larger-than-life entity in American music that has endured for decades and will long after his recent passing so what fitting tribute could be savored than in the flawless, uncanny performance by Jamie Foxx as the Genius in this warts-and-all valentine/biopic by long-time admirer Taylor Hackford.
Charles, born to an impoverished hand-to-mouth existence in rural backwoods Georgia, had it hard from the get-go as the story begins with him recalling in flashback his roots and strongly independent single-parenting mother Gladys (a fiercely strong debut by newcomer Warren) who wouldn't tolerated charity and worse yet intolerance particularly in the aftermath of the tragic drowning of his younger brother George (which he never recovered from) and the inevitable sudden blindness afflicting him at the tender age of seven. Charles had to grow up in hurry and instilled his loving yet stern mother's words of not being a 'cripple' and wallowing in self-pity even after she had him sent away to a blind school to learn more than she could ever teach yet the life lessons remained as he progressed to a young man who was taught to appreciate music at that young age which led him to a path of indifference, racial segregation, bigotry, drug abuse, womanizing, having a family and radically changing the landscape of music for generations to come.
Charles began his trek to greatness in painstaking juke joints with pick-up bands that eventually led to his talent to really shine in incorporating jazz, rhythm & blues with pop, rock and country/western but the path was treacherous largely to the aforementioned demons which led to his heroin addiction and reputation as a ladies' man with little consequence to a conscience about those who loved him hurting in the process. Chiefly his wife Della Bea, the stoic yet adoring voice of reason (Washington, strong and steady) and back-up singer Margie Hendricks (an electrifying King matching Foxx step by step) who saw more for Ray than met the eye as a muse and collaborator in more than music.
As fame and fortune beckon like a siren's call and several deals with the devil, Charles emerges victorious in his long-time relationship with Atlantic Records and then to independent sharpness with ABC/Paramount which allowed him to maintain his versatility, creativity and shrewdly financially instating him as a smooth businessman with clever endeavors (the aforementioned dabbling into C&W resulted in his highest selling record at the time).
Director Hackford expertly imbues the film with period rich detail and an almost documentary feel with a you-are-there precision of a fly-on-the-wall viewpoint of a true artist blossoming in unchartered territories while his collaborative screenplay with novice James L. White cuts to the core of what Ray Charles was : an undeniable talent with moxie and swagger to spare yet with a heart big enough to see the errors of his ways and seeking an inner redemption rarely captured.
Also rarely captured is the impressionable turn by Foxx as the man with unerring accuracy to his gait, manner of being (i.e. the smiles and self-hugging trademarks during his performances) and managing without sight (Foxx had his eyes fitted with prostheses to achieve the reality of blindness during the shoot) yet what is a true testament is the skills he unravels in the dramatic scope of a man wrestling with inner demons with or without the vise-like grip of addiction and infidelities. Foxx humanizes an icon; no easy task and should garner him a crop of awards with an Academy Award on the horizon. He deserves the recognition in the cross over from comic to dramatic actor.
Equally impressive is King who finally shines with her trademark no-BS sassiness and an inner warmth rarely allowed to be seen and the aforementioned Warren also deserves a Best Supporting Actress nod).
The flawless production design by Stephen Altman, sharp cinematography by Pawel Edelman and Sharen Davis' wonderful costume design takes you back to the eras gone by with fantastic results. Noteworthy also is the brilliant decision to have Foxx lip-synch to the actual voice of Ray Charles; who else could do the man justice?