A New Respect for Jamie Foxx

Rating: 8/10 (19 February 2005)

Overall, I found Ray to be an excellent movie. I, like many others, was not very familiar with Ray Charles before viewing this movie. However, watching Jamie Foxx portray the legendary musician in this movie, I completely forgot that I was watching an actor and not Charles himself.
Overall, I'd consider this to be a great biopic. Primarily, the movie follows Ray's life from 1947 until the later 1960s, chronicling his rise, talent, and success as well as his downfalls, heroin abuse in particular. The movie also includes flashbacks to Ray's childhood that introduce the viewer to Ray's mother, a strong motivating force in his life, as well as immersing the viewer in some of Ray's early struggles with blindness from glaucoma and the terrible death of his brother.
While no biopic can effectively cover every element of a life as long and successful as Ray Charles's, I'd say this one does a pretty good job. The movie touches on many important moments in Ray's life leading to a very effective rise and fall, followed by the comforting ending of Ray kicking the heroin addiction. Meanwhile, some excellent performances are delivered throughout the movie, particularly by the actresses portraying the women in Ray's life. Sharon Warren in her role as Ray's mother was excellent, and Kerry Washington playing Della Bea was superb as well. However, the real star of this is obviously Foxx. His portrayal of Ray Charles is sublime, and has given me a profound respect for his acting abilities that until now had not been effectively showcased in any other role.