Themes: Musician's Life, Living With Disability, Drug Addiction
Main Cast: Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King, Clifton Powell, Aunjanue Ellis, Curtis Armstrong
Release Year: 2004
Country: US
Run Time: 152 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Directed by Taylor Hackford, this biopic profiles the life of legendary musician Ray Charles. Despite humble beginnings and the loss of his eyesight due to glaucoma at the age of six, Charles, depicted by Jamie Foxx, would nonetheless become an icon in both the music industry and the civil rights era. While the film delves into his problems with drugs and women, the bulk of the story details his career; among the highlights of that career are 12 Grammy awards and 11 R&B chart-toppers, such as "Unchain My Heart," "Hit the Road, Jack," "Georgia," "Doin' the Mess Around," and "Hallelujah I Just Love Her So." Also among the cast are Larenz Tate as Quincy Jones, as well as Regina King, Kerry Washington, and Clifton Powell. Charles' son, Ray Charles Jr. helped produce the film. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
Review
Taylor Hackford's Ray is at heart little more than a run-of-the mill biopic that hits all the familiar story points for that genre. What keeps this film from becoming totally pedestrian is the fierce, commanding performance of Jamie Foxx. This is not an impersonation of Ray Charles, nor is it a vain attempt to bask in the glow of Charles the celebrity. Foxx finds difficult emotional places to go to, and hisRay Charles is often more interesting than the one Hackford seems to want to tell the audience about. One can believe that these amazing songs are coming from this man, and that may be the biggest compliment one can pay to the performance. That point also leads to the other aspect of the film that keeps it afloat: the superb music. The film was made with Charles' approval, and he allowed the filmmakers to use his original recordings. Had this been a play, a one-man show with the same music, it would make for a fascinating and memorable evening. As he always does, Hackford fills his film with convention after convention, and in doing so, undercuts the real and complicated issues apparent both in Foxx and in the music. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Harry J. Lennix - Joe Adams; Terrence Howard - Gossie McKee; Larenz Tate - Quincy Jones; Bokeem Woodbine - Fathead Newman; Sharen Warren - Aretha Robinson; Richard Schiff - Jerry Wexler; C.J. Sanders - Young Ray; Wendell Pierce - Wilbur Brassfield; Chris Thomas King - Lowell Fulsom; David Krumholtz - Milt Shaw; Warwick Davis - Oberon; Patrick Bauchau - Dr. Hacker; Robert Wisdom - Jack Lauderdale; Denise Dowse - Marlene; Thomas Jefferson Byrd - Jimmy; Rick Gomez - Tom Dowd; Kurt Fuller - Sam Clark; Julian Bond - Julian Bond; Kimberly Ardison - Ethel McRae; Renee Wilson - Pat Lyle; Willlie Metcalf - Mr. Pitt; Michael Pniewski - Bus Driver; Terrone Bell - Young George Robinson; Richard A. Smith - Til; Gary Grubbs - Billy Ray; Carol Sutton - Eula; Bill Breaux - Cop #1; Alex Van - Cop #2; Roland "Bob" Harris - Jesse Stone; Tom Clark - Alan Freed; Afemo Omilami - Angry Husband; Elizabeth Omilami - Angry Wife; Vernel Bagneris - Dancin' Al; Fahnlohnee R. Harris - Trudy Daniels; Michael Travis Stone - Robert; Eric O'Neal Jr. - Ray Charles, Jr. (5-6 Yrs.); Tequan Richmond - Ray Charles Jr. (9-10 Yrs.); Matthew Benjamin - Musician In Billy Ray's; John Swasey - Customs Agent #1; James Huston - Customs Agent #2; Marc Lynn - Downbeat Reporter; Kyle-Scott Jackson - King Bee; Todd J. Smith - Student Reporter; Rutherford Cravens - White Promoter; Darnell Williams - Fast Girl; Jedda Jones - Mercedes; Jeffrey Galpin - Cop #3; Michael Arata - Cop #4; Estella Denson - Lady In Rain; Jeffrey Glapin - Stunt Coordinator; Derrick Simmons - Stunt Double "Ray Charles"; David Hash - Stunt Double "Wilbur Brassfield"; Ralph Tresvant - Sam Cooke
Credit
Scott Plauche - Art Director, John Bucklin - Supervising Art Director, Nancy Klopper - Casting, Nick Morton - Co-producer, Alise Benjamin - Co-producer, Ray Charles Robinson, Jr. - Co-producer, Sharen Davis - Costume Designer, Jerry Grandey - First Assistant Director, Taylor Hackford - Director, Raymond Prado - Second Unit Director, Paul Hirsch - Editor, Thomas J. Nordberg - Editor, Jaime Rucker King - Executive Producer, William J. Immerman - Executive Producer, Barbara Hall - Line Producer, Craig Armstrong - Composer (Music Score), Curt Sobel - Musical Direction/Supervision, Ray Charles - Songwriter, Stephen Altman - Production Designer, Pawel Edelman - Cinematographer, Karen Baldwin - Producer, Howard Baldwin - Producer, Stuart Benjamin - Producer, Taylor Hackford - Producer, Adele Plauche - Set Designer, Stephanie Girard - Set Designer, Molly Mikula - Set Designer, Bob Beemer - Sound Mixer, Scott Millan - Sound Mixer, Greg Orloff - Sound Mixer, Steve Cantamessa - Sound/Sound Designer, Taylor Hackford - Screen Story, James L. White - Screen Story, Taylor Hackford - Screenwriter, Jimmy White - Screenwriter, James L. White - Screenwriter, Lukasz Jogalla - Second Unit Camera, Per Hallberg - Supervising Sound Editor, Karen Baker Landers - Supervising Sound Editor, Maria Nay - Set Decorator, Ray Charles - Featured Music, Dahl Delu - Painter, Marisa Marcione - Painter, Jason A. Silber - Painter, Cassie Catalanotto - Painter, Wendy Guerrera - Painter, Tim McCullough - Painter, Telly Ordoyne - Painter, Stephen Walers - Painter, Tom Ashburn - Painter, Brad Beniscek - Painter, Ronnie Castleberry - Painter, Ronald W. Romanski - Painter, Ken Robinson - Painter, Robert B. Arnold - Painter, Michael Costello - Painter, Jason Lagos - Painter, Anthony Lamonea - Painter
Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles Robinson went blind at the age of seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mother who insisted he make his own way in the world, Charles found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered incorporating gospel, country, jazz and orchestral influences into his inimitable style.
As he revolutionized the way people appreciated music, he simultaneously fought segregation in the very clubs that launched him and championed artists’ rights within the corporate music business. The movie provides a portrait of Charles’ musical genius as he overcomes drug addiction while transforming into one of his country’s most beloved performers.
Cast
Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles - As stated in the DVD commentary, the actor does not sing as Ray Charles with exception to covers Charles performs in his earlier years. Kanye West and Ludacris have since both made songs with Jamie Foxx singing as Ray Charles in their songs "Gold Digger" and "Georgia", respectively.
The film's production was entirely financed by Philip Anschutz, through his Bristol Bay Productions company. Taylor Hackford stated in a DVD bonus feature that it took 15 years to make the film. He later clarified in the liner notes of the soundtrack album that it took that time to secure financing.
Charles was given a braille copy of the film's original script; he objected only to a scene showing him taking up piano grudgingly, and a scene implying that Charles had shown mistress and lead "Raelette" Margie Hendricks how to shoot heroin.
On October 29, 2004 on a budget of $40 million. The film went on to become a box-office hit, earning $100 million in the U.S. with an additional $75 million internationally, bringing its world wide gross to $175 million.
Critical reaction
The film received mostly positive reviews. Most of the praise went to Jamie Foxx's tour-de-force performance which made him a favorite for the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film however did receive some bad reviews, with critics complaining that in fact a mediocre screenplay was buoyed by powerful performances.[4] Currently Ray has a certified fresh rating of 82% based on 191 reviews at rottentomatoes.com.[5]
As noted in the film's final credits, Ray is based on true events, but includes some characters, names, locations, and events which have been changed and others which have been "fictionalized for dramatization purposes." Examples of the fictionalized scenes include:
In the film, when Ray's younger brother George drowns in their mother's wash tub, he stands there and does nothing as George drowns (because he thought George was joking). In his autobiography, Charles remembers trying to pull his brother out of the tub after realizing he was drowning but was unable to save him.
In the studio scene where Charles is taught the "Mess Around," he is told it's in the "Key of G." The "Mess Around" is actually in the key of E flat.
^ Director Hackford noted this focus on the years 1935-1965 in his DVD commentary for the film; the only exception to this focus is the film's final scene featuring Julian Bond and set in the Georgia State Capitol in 1979, a scene Hackford included at Charles' specific request.
