Charles the first

Rating: 7/10 (23 February 2014)

Stirring, reasonably unflinching if occasionally romanticised bio-pic of R 'n' B giant Ray Charles with a superb impersonation / performance in the lead part by Jamie Foxx. The film charts the singer's rise from the poor black neighbourhood of his youth in the 40's to his Grammy-winning chart-topping peak of the early 60's. Apart from a late 70's epilogue which sees him regain the right to play in Augusta after being banned for refusing to play to segregated audiences there years before, the film ends with Charles back on the up, kicking his heroin habit in the process.
There's a lot of story to be told here, between Charles' drug-habit, womanising and performing but occasionally the movie did seem to sag and drag a touch, especially when he's on the road juggling his love-life amongst competing women. However the film doesn't shy from showing his numerous faults although the constant dream/nightmare sequences having us believe all his character defects can be traced back to his witnessing as a young boy the tragic death of his younger brother seems a bit "Hollywood" to me, a simpler excuse for his excesses probably being that he just couldn't help himself.
These scenes, plus regular flashbacks to his mother egging him on as a boy are too fantastical for me and go against the gritty realism of the rest of the movie. Depictions of time and place are well recreated especially Charles' historic recording sessions with Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ehrtegun and his journeys around the "Chitlin Circuit" of the American South and anytime a song comes on the screen the movie lights up, a combination of great material, great staging and great performing by Foxx.
Foxx probably deserved his best actor Oscar as he throws himself fully into the part and does so without sentimentality or hamming it up. The supporting cast is strong too in an almost all-black cast, especially those playing the women in his life.
It probably helps enjoyment of the film if you're familiar with Charles' music and even like me, his unconventional true-life story, but it's not really necessary as both the music and the character are so strong as to be almost irresistible.