'Ray' could be called 'Jamie'...

Rating: Null/10 (20 February 2005)

Unfortunately, the only thing to keep you engrossed in this standard biography is the wonderment of Jamie Foxx's portrayal of the late crooner Ray Charles. The actors behind Foxx are so typical of a bio-film---melodramatic and plain---that Foxx has to fight to keep the film afloat. His uncanny resemblance and talent at the piano keys draw you in right away. The flashbacks, for once in a film, don't distract, as we are able to kick off with Charles adult life, but intersperse experiences from his past every now and then. But after about an hour the film stalls, stuck in the late '50s and on Charles' heroic addiction. I wished they would've pushed the story forward and not lingered on this 'till I was saying, "Ok, I get it. He was hooked on the stuff". Plus the fact Charles becomes an anti-hero halfway through with all his marital dalliances. The director, Taylor Hackford, was much more captivating with his masterful "La Bamba" from 1987. The supporting characters in that film weren't assembly-line, as one of them almost stole the show. But here his approach seems to stall out halfway through, causing you to check your watch for when it'll finally move. And at two and a half hours, that's a lot of glances at your wrist. If for anything else, watch it for Foxx's bang-up performance.