2004 Directed by Taylor Hackford
Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He 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 couping gospel and country together.
Jamie Foxx Kerry Washington Regina King Harry Lennix Clifton Powell Bokeem Woodbine Sharon Warren C.J. Sanders Curtis Armstrong Richard Schiff Larenz Tate Terrence Howard David Krumholtz Wendell Pierce Aunjanue Ellis Chris Thomas King Thomas Jefferson Byrd Rick Gomez Denise Dowse Warwick Davis Patrick Bauchau Robert Wisdom Kurt Fuller Jedda Jones Gary Grubbs Carol Sutton
Taylor Hackford Howard Baldwin Karen Elise Baldwin Nick Morton Yvonne Yaconelli Stuart Benjamin Alise Benjamin Ray Charles Robinson Jr.
Catherine Harper Christopher Moriana Dino Dimuro Christopher Assells Per Hallberg Nerses Gezalyan James Moriana Jeffrey Wilhoit Scott Millan Bob Beemer Greg Orloff Karen Baker Landers Peter Staubli Bruce Tanis Dan Hegeman Scott Sanders Steve Cantamessa
Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story
It was very bold of the filmmakers to actually go back in time and cast young Ray Charles as himself. Not many filmmakers would take such a risk.
As a huge fan of Ray Charles' music from a young age, a biopic of one of the greatest musical icons of the 20th century was an enticing prospect. Ray is the product of fifteen years of effort from director Taylor Hackford to bring the blind singer's life story to the big screen, facing down rejection from studios wary of biopics and even more so, as Hackford himself said, 'black biopics'. The money was eventually found & Hackford realised his vision, signed off on by Charles himself after reading the script in braille & indeed approving personally of Jamie Foxx in the lead role following a jamming session whereby he forced Foxx to keep up with him free forming to Thelonious Monk!…
Still debating between a 3.5 and 4 but I’m sticking with a 3.5 for now. Ray is a very lively, energetic and surprisingly fun biopic about Ray Charles. The music is very refreshing to hear and allows you to be a part of the movie. It’s a pretty well-directed movie and the sound design is very well done. And how could I forget the reason why you watch this movie, Jamie Foxx. He definitely lives up to my expectations. He was incredible in this role and not only was it one of the best performances portraying a famous singer, but one of the most deserved Oscar wins. However, the movie does have a few flaws. Evidently, this movie is way…
I really liked this! I think I just have a thing for biopics about musicians though.
I do think it was a little too long, I think it could have benefitted from being shorter because the run time was pretty long and it dragged a bit in the middle.
This is the first time Jamie Foxx has actually really impressed me. He was fantastic as Ray Charles and really disappeared into the role. Very deserving of that Oscar.
It felt very similar to other biopics so if you don’t like that genre, you probably won’t like this one either. I liked it though! His life was interesting and sad but amazing. They really showed all of his flaws too which I appreciated because it made him feel so down to earth and it can be easy to overly praise someone who’s considered such a legend.
scavenger hunt 53 —> watch a jazzy movie
83%
Taylor Hackford takes a risk in orchestrating such a complex biography, but delivers an extremely intelligent result by expanding the horizons of our vision of past and present, tragedies transformed into traumas instantly, the feeling of wandering in a new world when listening to a distant song, crushed dreams, a rigorous attitude to move on, Ray is possibly one of the most committed biographies with the necessary boldness to bring reality to the surface, a conflict in the dark, the fear of the future being coldly conveyed in a breathtaking performance, strongly too, relentless and consistent, driven by an understandable hatred, there is no doubt that this film will be eternally impressive and conquering, the haunting of a sharp blow, but at the same time delicate for so much successful confidence.
Ray is a movie about the rise of a musician and the fall of a man to his evil vices, a movie cruel, reflective, realistic and at times devastating, we follow the life of the talented and one of the greatest singers of all time Ray Charles, here we follow his entire trajectory from his poor childhood with traumas to his resounding success together with his perverse addictions, in this dynamic, musical and electrifying journey, Ray played by the brilliant Jamie Foxx gives us a Ray Charles that is a little confused and confuses us thinking it's just a bad acting by the actor, but we soon find out that that eccentric way and his bizarre accent is due to…
Probably suffers a little bit from being seen in a post-Walk Hard world, but Jamie Foxx's performance as Ray Charles is genuinely remarkable work, and while the script (and occasionally Taylor Hackford's direction) give up any semblance of subtlety or plausibility to underline the points they want the viewer to take from the story, they're pretty good points, making the film genuinely interesting as a surprisingly unsentimental show business parable, and the film genuinely does feel like a love letter to the music of Ray Charles, which helps it go down smoothly.
A film I was particularly keen to see because I was convinced I’d really enjoy it but ten minutes in, I realized I felt that way because I’d seen Ray at least a decade ago and had really enjoyed it.
Despite the sense of deja vu, Ray is another extremely impressive, well done biopic! Jamie Foxx is absolutely incredible in his role and the other actors around him add so much to the emotions of the film. One I thoroughly enjoy, even if I did forget I enjoyed it! I don’t have a ton to say on the film as a whole besides it’s definitely worth the watch!
Watch 16/29 of my Black Cinema Challenge
Ray is a fairly standard music biopic but it has an epic sweep that also feels deeply personal. Despite being a long film, it feels quick and speeds through events. If anything, the film feels rushed and lacking in a lot of connective tissue. It is a complete, comprehensive biopic for the most part, until it just ignores the last 40 years of Charles' career. There's also some very silly and large distortions of history. Probably the weakest element is an intermittent water motif that culminates in a stupid dream sequence, which is a really pointless attempt to psychoanalyse Ray Charles. Yet Ray succeeds ultimately. Jamie Foxx gives an electric performance that captivates in every scene. The film does not…
