Ray

Oscar season is upon us, and we finally have a strong contender. With
Oscar season just really getting started it is nice to see a fresh face
come out of the gates running this year. Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles is
definetly the highlight of the film Ray and the one that will get all
the attention.

The film Ray chronicles the early years of Ray Charles career as one of
the best blues and jazz musicians of our time. His music has definetly
touched the lives of millions of people over the last fifty years. In
Jamie Foxx’s first serious role you see him portray an excellent Ray
Charles. This biopic specifically focuses on his first fifteen years of
music from 1950-1965. The main events that this covers include graphic
details of his well known heroine addiction and growth to super-stardom

There are several amazing aspects to this film that will definetly keep
you in your seats and maybe even tapping your toes. Foxx has the role
down to perfection and does an amazing job playing a junkie. He has
every drug induced twitch down and knows the music well. Although they
used original recordings in the film, you couldn’t really tell that
Foxx was not singing the songs. Before I keep praising Foxx I will
mention that all of his early songs were amazingly drawn together in
the film and really added depth to what was going on in his life at the
time.

The overall story was well put together, but it
seemed to be lacking somethings…like a shorter film. Although the
music kept you entertained there were several times during the film
that you could tell it was dragging on. If you were to cut parts of the
film out though, it would not be as cohesive as a story…so I am
rather conflicted in this area.

Not only does this film
include his music and drug habits, but also his love for women. Ray is
definetly a lover and gets the girl’s attention because of his music
and he is able to use that to his advantage. I will not say anything
else to spoil the storyline here, although if you know anything about
his early years you know that he was not the most faithful of men.

Warning: If you are sensitive to drug induced fits or psychological flashbacks then you might want to skip this one.

Oscar Worthy: This is definetly a chance for Foxx to shine when it
comes to Oscar time. Although, I feel that he will be the only part of
the film that does shine. Unless Regina King, who plays his mistress
Margie, gets nominated for Best Supporting Actress. She also did a
great job with the role that she played and being able to bring depth
to the music that she was involved in making with Ray Charles.

Music: If you love his music then this is something right up your
alley, just be prepared to sit for just over two and a half hours.

Ray Charles died on June 10, 2004 of liver failure, after filming had ended.