Ray Charles. He's still winning Grammies even after his passing last year (2004). The man was a legend, and his music lives on giving him a shade of immortality. He spoke to all of us through his music which entertained us, touched us, and inspired us. But who was he, where did he come from, and what made him such a success? The movie, Ray, attempts to give us some answers as well as a glimpse at the man behind the music.
This movie really comes in two halves which are quite distinct. The movie's intro shows us Jamie Foxx, as Ray Charles, up close and leading into one of his songs. Then, for the first half of the movie, we see a man who overcomes blindness and racism to make his way into the music scene. Ray Charles Robinson becomes known as Ray Charles, because "Sugar Ray" Robinson had already become famous. "As long as it's my name on the record, I really don't care what you call me," quips Ray, as he is working out a record deal. It is an uplifting and feel-good story that plays like a concert as we move from song to song, watching Ray Charles go from background piano player to the leader of the band. And I guess it goes without saying that the music is just fabulous.
However, for the second half of the movie, we no longer see the inspiring story of man and music climbing their way up the charts and into fame and history. Instead, we see destruction. Destruction caused by a terrible addiction to heroin. Destruction caused by the abuse of money and power, an incessant cheating on his wife, and a disloyalty to friends. In my opinion, they went to far with this portion of the movie. They take a man whom millions of people adore, and they defame and slander him without giving much of a chance for redemption. And what is more, we really aren't able to identify with him any longer. We have no idea what he is thinking or why he makes these crazy decisions in his life. And this is most unfortunate. It reminded me of the same failure that was made with the movie, Ali (which, interestingly enough, featured another great performance by Jamie Foxx as Drew "Bundini" Brown).
This movie will be remembered for the performance of Jamie Foxx. It has been said that he didn't just play Ray Charles, but that he was Ray Charles, and I'd have to agree. I've heard where Mr. Foxx would walk around blindfolded for 8 hours at a time just to get the feeling of what it was like to be without sight. He not only portrayed the mannerisms and speech of this man, but portrayed his music as well (although, the actual singing voice heard in the movie is none other than Ray Charles himself). I must definitely tip my had to Jamie Foxx. However, as I mentioned before, the disappointing thing about this movie was the lack of insight into the mind of Ray Charles and for this I blame the story and directing rather than Foxx himself.
What I really enjoyed from this movie, aside from the music, were the flashbacks. For the most part, these didn't involve Foxx at all, but to me were the most marvelous and memorable scenes in the movie. We see Ray as a young child (C.J. Sanders) whose experiences at that time shape the rest of his life, for better or worse. We see him touch a piano for the first time ever, as an old man begins to pass down his gift of music (specifically, of stride piano) to Ray. We also see the accidental death of Ray's younger brother, which haunts him throughout his adult life. And, sadly, we see the fading vision of a child coupled with his poor mother's (Sharon Warren) desperation to save his sight, rubbing an ointment on his eyes that cost "a whole dollar" which was considerable given her meager salary doing laundry. When at last the young child's vision is completely gone, his mother forces him to become self-reliant in what is truly the best scene in the entire film. I also felt that the performances from Sanders and Warren, though brief, were Oscar-worthy. Sadly, they were snubbed.
One interesting side note. The child who played Ray as a boy, C.J. Sanders, had to wear contacts or something over his eyes to give that blind, cataract-covered eye look. However, we don't see Jamie Foxx doing the same thing. Instead, Foxx's eyes remain closed. There is a scene where Ray Charles is given his trademark sunglasses which he wore throughout his career. He is a new member of a country band and the leader says, "Here, put these on before you scare us all sick" (or something like that) and puts a pair of sunglasses on his face. The thing is, this scene doesn't make quite as much sense with Foxx's closed eyes as it would have with the grey-looking eyes. My guess is that Jamie Foxx didn't want anything put on his eyeballs, and quite frankly I don't blame him because I am pretty squeamish when it comes to my eyes as well.
All in all, this movie is definitely worth seeing for Foxx's performance, for the inspirational first half, and for the last few minutes of the film. And it is worth hearing for, of course, the music.
Worth seeing for Foxx's performance. Just don't let the second half get you too down.
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