Good Movie, Great Performance

Rating: Null/10 (3 November 2004)

I would not be the least surprised if Jamie Foxx wins Best Actor. The Academy likes to acknowledge actors who go to lengths to change themselves for their performance, (see Best Actress 2003, 2004) and Foxx is also a master of mimickry, which has catapulted him to true stardom, beyond the restraints of his roles in dumb comedies. Coupled with his work in Michael Mann's "Collateral," he has turned out impressive, landmark performances in his career that are sure to elevate him to the top ranks of Hollywood.
Taylor Hackford's almost-three-hour biopic has its share of flaws. No big surprise in such films, especially when following the life of a pop icon such as Ray Charles, or Mohammed Ali. Thankfully, though, for what it's worth, this movie's leisurely running time, while annoying at times, helps to make it more rounded, and not so "Ray did this, and then Ray did that five years later," something that was one of the more obvious flaws in "Ali." Here, Foxx is allowed to fully embody the late musician. And while the movie only tells his story up to 1965, when it ends rather abruptly and unpleasantly, the combination of Charles' music and the excellent acting of Foxx, Kerry Washington (as his wife), Sharon Warren (as his mother), and Regina King (as his mistress, one of the Raylets), make it work.
Hackford paints a flawed picture of Ray, one that doesn't go for glorification, but spends a lot of time with his heroin addiction, his numerous affairs, and, as his success grows, the severing of loyalties to his friends. At the same time, his genius, music, and better qualities still manage to shine through. Hackford may not have been the director to bring Ray Charles' life to the screen, but Foxx certainly was the actor to make it ring true.
9/10