For me, the measure of a biopic's greatness is whether it makes a person I wasn't particularly interested in before seem
interesting. I was apathetic toward Muhammad Ali, and "Ali" didn't change that. I never gave a thought to Andy Kaufman, but "Man on the Moon" made me think about him a lot. "Ray" belongs to the latter camp. I spent very little time pondering Ray Charles before -- great pianist, overcame his blindness, very famous, sorry he died, and so forth -- and now here I am appreciating his talents and finding him to be an interesting character. The star of this film, as you have already heard, is Jamie Foxx. I think his dramatic turn in "Collateral," in which he did not annoy me -- a first for Jamie Foxx -- prepared me for "Ray," where he is shockingly good. He does a fine impersonation of Charles, first of all -- the voice, the mannerisms, the piano style -- but most film performances that are ONLY impersonations lose their impact when it comes to emotions. It's one thing to behave like the famous guy everyone has seen on TV; it's quite another to show us how that person would have acted in private. Foxx has the acting chops to back it up. He puts Charles into believable emotional situations and acts the way we imagine Charles would have acted, translating his public persona into a real character. The film commences with Ray's journey in 1948 from his north Florida home to Seattle, where he has a gig lined up as a blues pianist. He meets a fellow outside the club, a trumpet player. They chat a minute. When Ray introduces himself, the man replies, "I'm Quincy Jones." Lovers of music and musical history titter with excitement.
To read the rest of this review, click on the relevant link below.