Hey, What'd I Say?

Rating: 10/10 (1 October 2005)

All I can say is "Wow!" This is one of the best films I've ever seen. It's a masterpiece, whether you've been a ray Charles fan for years or if you've never heard of him before.
The script, the acting, the cinematography, and especially THE MUSIC make this a fantastic flick. Jamie Foxx WAS Ray Charles. Not only did he look like him, but he got every little detail about Ray Charles' nailed down, even his fantastic sense of hearing. You forgot it was a movie, you thought it was the real Ray Charles. No wonder Jamie Foxx won the Academy Award.
It was very fortunate that Ray Charles himself advised the director and cast. Jamie Foxx is a tremendously talented actor and pianist in his own right, and having the opportunity to work with the great man himself made him that much more accurate. Of course, Ray Charles was a friendly outgoing man, with many friends. In this film, you always know what Ray Charles is thinking and feeling. Contrast this with the other big biopic in theaters at the same time, "The Aviator." The real Howard Highes was long dead, but even if they had made a film while Hughes was still alive, he was such a recluse that you have to wonder if anyone, even Katherine Hepburn, ever knew him.
This was not a "puff piece" - you see both the good an bad side of the great musician. Sadly, he had been a drug addict and he was a terrible philanderer, and the movie does not gloss over these faults. Of course, neither does it hide his tremendous talents.
"Ray" chronicles Ray Charles' rise to fame and fortune during the 1950s and 1960s. You are there as he creates his greatest hits. The most enjoyable scene was where he creates the big hit "What'd I say." He had ended the show about fifteen minutes short when the club owner demands Ray Charles perform the full time. So he says to the band and singers, "Here's a new song. Everybody, just follow me on this one." Another interesting aspect of his career was his tremendous business skill. He had the talent to play dumb, "country dumb," he tells his friends. When switching to a new record company, he negotiated the best deal any singer had at the time, even better than Frank Sinatra.
Then there is the music. I was just a few years too young to appreciate his music back in the day. But wow, I heard it all in the movie as if it were the first time. Ray Charles did it his way. Refusing to be pigeonholed into one genre of music, Ray Charles sang Blues, R&B, Rock, and even Country. If you have a home theater or a TV set with a really great sound system, you'll love the sound track. I actually bought the "Ray" CD, and I enjoy listening to it. If you buy it, you will really like the liner notes which talk about the making of the movie.
A "must see" movie!