Ray (2004)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Ray Charles	Jamie Foxx	½
Della Bea Robinson	Kerry Washington
Margie Hendricks	Regina King
Jeff Brown	Clifton Powell
Joe Adams	Harry Lennix
Fathead Newman	Bokeem Woodbine
Mary Ann Fisher	Aunjaune Ellis
Aretha Robinson	Sharon Warren
Young Ray Robinson	C. J. Sanders
Jerry Wexler	Richard Schiff
Quincy Jones	Larenz Tate
Gossie McKee	Terrence Dashon Howard

Review

Taylor Hackford's biopic on the highly eventful life of the legendary Ray Charles is by no means neither the most pinpointed nor the most ground-breaking biography in recent years. It is at times somewhat ill-focused, burying itself in financial issues and becoming what borders on obsessed with Charles' drug addiction. These, and a few segments in which Hackford opts for cheap solutions (don't you think it's time someone redefined that 'getting out of your drug addiction'-montage?) contribute to making Ray an unnecessary winding experience.  

Still, the weight of the material, the fantastic music, the film's meticulous attention to detail and, last but not least, Jamie Foxx' magnificent performance in the lead adds up to enough to acknowledge this as a remarkable film. There's no denying that this reviewer is a sucker for biopics (another fine one this year was The Aviator on Howard Hughes), but there's also no denying that Taylor Hackford has put almost half a lifetime of work into this, and that passion shines through. Although Hackford's talent has come to its right more clearly in the past (notably with Dolores Claiborne), Ray will forever stand as one of his finest and most important films.