Feel the Rays

Yes, Jamie Foxx was wonderful portraying Ray Charles, and he probably deserved the Oscar for it. Foxx was able to somehow embody Ray Charles; at various moments, I thought I was actually watching Ray Charles on screen, not watching Foxx’s portrayal of him. It was quite weird and amazing at the same time.

Besides Foxx’s great acting, however, Ray didn’t have much to offer. And it made me think about why I didn’t like it. In the same way that Runaway Jury made me question why I don’t like crime/jury dramas, Ray made me realize that I generally don’t like biopics. I always thought it was partially because I don’t like the way they age characters in movies, and I still can’t stand that. Watch A Beautiful Mind, and you will see what I mean. The aged Russell Crowe just looks silly, and nevermind great young actors trying to act old. It never works. But Ray didn’t really age through the movie. They gave him a little bit of gray hair at the end, but they didn’t overdo it. I guess that’s due partly to the fact that the main action of the film ends by 1970. So I can’t really blame my dislike of the film on the “aging.”

I think it’s just something about the biopic that doesn’t make for a great movie. They’re always flawed. Of course I’m speaking generally here, that the movies are bad, when really, a lot of respectable people love these films, so maybe I’m just talking about my own personal taste. But, to my own personal taste, these films are well, never all that great.

People are fascinating, yes, and the hour long biography on A&E can be quite engrossing. But a movie is a different animal. We need one central plot that can be wrapped up in two hours or so, and people’s lives can’t generally be reduced to that. Ray did a better job than most, I admit. It managed to tie everything together with his flashbacks. I was glad it didn’t just start with him as a kid because the flashbacks helped us see how the past fit into his present. But consider all of the plots here: the death of Ray’s brother, his marriage to what seemed like an angel, his old manager, his new manager, drugs, rehab, and the list goes on. Too many plots? Maybe not, because the film did a good job of making everything tie into Ray’s brother’s death.

But too many things were left unfinished. What about his marriage? Did it become a real marriage? Or what about his son? What happened to him? Did ever become a real father? What about his new manager? Was he actually stealing from him? What about any of the other characters we were introduced to throughout the film? If they’re not with Ray, they’re simply offscreen, forgotten, dismissed. But what about his mistresses? Did he continue to have them? Did he adopt his other son?

Yes, I’m being hard on it, I know. Overall, it’s a decent film, and it was enjoyable to watch. The drug and rehab scenes were way too overdone and seemed to be taken directly from Requiem for a Dream, but the movie was beautiful otherwise. So this film has flaws, but it’s still worth watching. Is it best picture quality? No, so I’m glad it didn’t win. But it’s still good.

Grade for Ray: 6