Ray (2004)

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Directed by
Taylor Hackford

Written by
Taylor Hackford, James L. White

Cast
Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King, Clifton Powell, Harry J. Lennix [more]

Ray Reviews

Sluggish, conventional, and almost completely lacking in energy, Ray is a textbook example of how not to make a bio-pic. Take away the bravura performance by Foxx and a soundtrack that chronicles Charles' early recording history, and you're left with a tranquilizer. And the film is long enough to provide an opportunity to catch a few winks. [read review]  --James Berardinelli (ReelViews) Ultimately, it's the music that keeps me drawn into the film, followed closely by Jamie Foxx's soulful (in both senses of the word) performance. The time periods are recreated vividly, the direction is smooth, the film works. Now I think about Ray Charles a lot, too. [read review] B+ --Eric D. Snider (EricDSnider.com) As much as Ray flounders, throughout its duration, it remains worth seeing. Just thinking of Foxx’s interpretation, sunglasses on and piano at his side, I am tempted to pound away at my computer keyboard and recreate the groovy tunes in my head, right now. [read review]  --Danny Baldwin (BucketReviews.com) I will withhold judgment regarding Jamie Foxx being nominated for an Oscar (or winning one) because it is presumptuous. Foxx’s performance deserves one but that is entirely up to the decision of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. For now, enjoy the film as it is. Stop by to get to know Ray, and stay for the music. [read review] 10/10 --'Le Apprenti' (Movie-Vault.com) "Ray" is conventional and melodramatic, but it works. I was always feeling for Ray, through the good times and the bad times. The screenplay is episodic and the highs and the lows don't quite make a homogenous whole, but that's life, right? [read review]  --Kevin N. Laforest (Montreal Film Journal) Jamie Foxx should start clearing some space on his mantle - his extraordinary, transcendent performance as music legend Ray Charles in the exuberant "Ray" is the one to beat for Best Actor come Oscar night. [read review]  --Lou Lumenick (New York Post) Every once in a while, a performance pops out of a Hollywood movie that is so brilliant and unique to the matching of actor to role that it's impossible to imagine anyone else achieving it. [read review]  --Jack Mathews (New York Daily News) Foxx doesn't just sound like Ray Charles. He becomes him, right on down to the way Charles bobbed his head back-and-forth to the music, as though he felt it resonate deep within his soul. [read review]  --Tiffany Sanchez (CultureDose.net) Impressively directed, enjoyable biopic with terrific music sequences and an Oscar-worthy central performance by Jamie Foxx that more than justifies its lengthy running time. [read review]  --Matthew Turner (ViewLondon) It’s a good looking movie, with no expense spared in the recreation, although it never really colors outside the designated lines to offer something unexpected. [read review]  --Vince Leo (Qwipster.net) Probably Ray Charles and he already left us a legacy of music; one which speaks greater volumes than the film that borrows his name but not his soul. [read review]  --Erik Childress (eFilmCritic.com) Maybe I'm just in a generation that doesn't get Charles’ appeal, but this movie doesn't do much in the way of teaching it to me. [read review] C+ --Craig Younkin (Lee's Movie Info) Jamie Foxx rocks the house as the late, great Ray Charles. Can this one movie make America seem beautiful again? [read review] --Charles Taylor (Salon) “Ray” may not be as brilliant and complex as its subject, but it still puts on a hell of a show. [read review]  --Loey Lockerby (eFilmCritic.com) If there's any justice, the performance will earn Foxx an Academy Award nomination. [read review] --Paul Clinton (CNN Showbiz)

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