Enlightening, Enthralling Biopic With Integrity--and Great Music!

Rating: 9/10 (15 May 2013)

How refreshing to see an intelligent, well-crafted film about a person who triumphs over desperate adversity instead of the mass of films that immerse the viewer in ghoulish bloody adventures or the deluge of noisy Super Hero adventures aimed at 14 year old boys, which while fine for developing pubescence, don't do a lot for adults in search of something other than walls of noise and explosions.
Ray is an amazingly complex film for a two and a half hour biopic--in that time, cramming so much of a single genius into such a small patch of film is amazing,
It's about the development of character, and music, and national history, and is a multi-faceted biography about a fellow man who left a positive mark on the culture.
The casting is uniformly superb, with Foxx compelling and unforgettable, and even small roles memorably cast, whether it's the young kid who plays Charles as a tot, or the fleeting cameo that plays Jimmy Davis--even from a liberal point of view, it's the sort of film that reflects the best about America instead of swimming in self-pity and self- aggrandizement, Ray is never a film about blabby "issues" and failure, but instead about perseverance and personal triumph. Charles was no angel, but he grew in so many ways and left an indelible mark on the culture; this film has done the same.