Excellent film and a deserved Oscar for Jamie Foxx

Rating: 8/10 (29 November 2005)

If there is one reason to see this film its definitely Jamie Foxx. For 2hours and 20mins Ray Charles is brought back to life in memorable fashion. Foxx is outstanding in his portrayal of Charles and is also very convincing as a blind drug addicted musical genius. Having watched the film its very difficult to imagine anyone else playing RC on screen and even harder to imagine someone doing a better job.
The film itself is excellent with some inventive direction from Taylor Hackford including mixing graphics in with the live action. And the music scenes were sending shivers up my spine. Like Amadeus before it, this movie has the music of its subject as the backbone of the movie and really makes one appreciate Ray Charles' legacy in modern music.
Obviously its hard to fit a man's life into a 2 hour film but this does a damn good job; taking the most important and poignant moments of Ray Charles early life and showing the audience how they defined the man he became.
I strongly recommend this film because as far as biographical movies go this is up there with the best including Amadeus and Patton. And if your a fan of Ray Charles and his music then this film may go someway to offering an insight into both.
Overall I rate this film as an 8/10 but I think Jamie Foxx deserves a 10/10 because here in "Ray", and his other Oscar nominated performance in "Collateral", he proves that he may be a future leading man alongside the likes of his predecessors Denzel Washington and Sidney Poiter.