Ray

Looking for an intelligent adult movie this weekend? "Ray" is the one to see. A slow paced storyline is redeemed by what will certainly be an Oscar nominated performance by Jamie Foxx.

Foxx portrays Ray Charles in stunning fashion. You forget that this is a man pretending to be the legendary singer. Foxx IS Ray Charles. He nails Charles' erratic movements, personality, and ambition with ease. Moreover, he conveys Ray's love for life despite his blindness, and his inner turmoil and pain as he becomes more and more hooked on heroin.

That, essentially, is the focus of the film. We watch Ray Charles go from a piano player living on a few dollars a day while singing to the style of Nat King Cole, to a force behind the piano and microphone while also being pretty determined in his business dealings. At the same time, we witness Ray's decline into a world of drugs and paranoia which almost destroy everything he's worked so hard to build. The movie suggests that Ray's inner demons feed on the guilt he has harbored from a tragedy early in his life, which is told in flashbacks throughout the story.

For as plodding as the story can be at times, the ending wraps up the last twenty-five years of his life in about five minutes. For me this felt rushed, as if the director realized he was going to be pushing the three hour limit if he told another chapter of the man's life.

"Ray" is a very good movie, and is certainly worth seeing simply for the job that Foxx does. His supporting cast is solid, but can't compare. We're also reminded of just how many hits the late artist had over his career. Ray Charles may have been more successful because of his handicap, but he lived in such a way that you soon forget that his blindness was ever a factor in his life. If all the fall movie releases can live up to the bar set by "Ray", we're in for a great few months of entertainment. I give it a B+.

"Ray" is rated PG-13 with a running time of two hours and 32 minutes.