Electrifying performances by Foxx and company

Rating: 8/10 (16 April 2005)

It's been a few since buying "Ray" on DVD and I'm happy that I had a chance to see the movie before Jamie Foxx's Oscar win. He gave an electrifying performance and he deserved all the accolades he received.
I don't believe any other actor would have done a better job than Foxx. Without naming names, I believe some actors would have gotten Ray Charles' mannerisms but not able to go any deeper than that. Prior to Jamie Foxx's performance, when it comes to musical biographies, I still believe Gary Busey's performance as Buddy Holly and Sissy Spacek's performance as Loretta Lynn are two of the best acting and musical performances in the past few decades. (Although Foxx lip-synced many of Ray Charles' musical performances, Foxx did receive credit for performing 5 songs.) Even with the film's obvious flaws (e.g.: In my opinion, movies will never be able to capture a person's or a subject's entire history), Foxx made me believe he was young Ray Charles Robinson.
The actors surrounding Foxx also gave some fine performances including Kerry Washington as one of Ray's wives, Regina King as one of Ray's mistresses, and Sharon Warren as Ray's mother.
I'm glad director Taylor Hackford and writer James L. White made the attempt, with overall success, to capture who Ray Charles was, flaws and all.