Outstanding biography on Ray Charles

Rating: 9/10 (11 February 2005)

Jamie Foxx earns an Oscar in Ray, an all-around tremendous film documenting the life of the legendary Ray Charles. Foxx has every one of Charles' mannerisms down to a "T", and successfully portrays a flawed musical genius that makes no apologies for the tough business/personal decisions that he made to get to the top. Director Taylor Hackford does a great job showing Charles with warts and all, as we see Charles cheat on his wife and various mistresses, and dump old friends with no looking back. The real strength of the movie (beyond Foxx's performance) is the perfect balance between Charles's personal battles and the versatile music career he excelled at. We get a nice insight into how some of Charles's biggest hits came about--the show stopping "What I'd Say" performance is incredible. Regina King is very good as Margie Hendricks, the Raylette that serves as Ray's wife on the road. Sharon Warren may have been overlooked by the Oscar people for her strong performance as Ray's mother. But Foxx owns this picture, and it would be highway robbery if the definitive performance of the year were passed over.