The best biopic I've ever seen...

Rating: Null/10 (1 November 2004)

...now, I'm not a huge fan of biopics. By biopics I mean a story about the entire life of a person, not just a small part of it (I don't consider the astounding "The Straight Story" a biopic, for instance). Most of the time they're endless, boring and uninteresting. The huge revelation of most biopics is either that the person was a monster in real life or that s/he was pathetic and should be pitied ("A Beautiful Mind"). Either that or s/he was a great, amazing person with no flaws ("The Hurricane").
"Ray" - about influential singer Ray Charles Robinson - does none of that. It shows Robinson as a great man with two major flaws - addictions to heroin and women. This does not turn him into an evil person - no, he is a great man, and he loves his family very much, but he just can't stop sinning.
"Ray" is smart in that it doesn't show only Ray's problems or only his feats. The movie is balanced extremely well in Ray's flaws and his astounding achievements against blindness, his influence in American culture, and his love for his family. He was a great man, and the movie lets us know him very well.
So well that I haven't even mentioned the name of the actor who portrays him! It is Jamie Foxx, veteran of lots of comedy crap. Is this ever a good year for him. His work in "Collateral" was a revelation, he amazed me in that movie, one of the best performances of the year. And then here we have what's possible THE best performance of the year. Jamie Foxx's performance as Ray is so perfect, he has it down, Foxx is Charles, that's all there is to say. All of his movements, lines, actions...they're just perfect.
The supporting cast is admirable too. We get to know Ray's mother (Sharon Warren), wife (Kerry Washington) and longtime mistress (Regina King) the best, and all three give award-worthy performances (especially Warren, who was so powerful and effective as the mother). We don't learn all that much about any of the male supporting characters, but not a single bad performance is given, and they all (including Clifton Powell, Richard Schiff and the amazingly talented Warwick Davis) give a great impression.
The off-screen talent is high, too. The direction and cinematography are superb, the writing is great, and the costumes, sets and makeup are all, well, perfect.
But the gem of the movie is Foxx. He may not have been the first choice for many, but after seeing this, I couldn't imagine anyone else in the role. This is an exceptional movie, I have little doubt that the Academy will honor it.
8/10.