Biopics are a polarizing genre of film. They're either plagued with historical inaccuracies, bad impressions or bland scripts. A few have been great ("Rudy"), more have been good ("La Bamba," "Man on the Moon") and others have been god-awful ("Plath," "Dahmer"). And now, music great Ray Charles gets the biopic treatment.
Director Taylor Hackford brings to the table an unfailing track record of rubbing elbows with stars with stories to tell (see "Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll" and the Ali/Foreman documentary "When We Were Kings").
But Jamie Foxx? The guy is better known for "Booty Call" and serenading Serena Williams with "Can I Be Your Tennis Ball?" at the ESPY Award's than his dramatic work. It all makes sense, though. Foxx grew up in the South - Terrell, Texas, a place with six stoplights. Charles grew up in the Jim Crow South. Foxx studied piano at Julliard, and Charles knows a thing or two about the instrument.
Foxx has aged well in his transformation from shock-comic to dramatic sidekick for mega-stars (like opposite "The Fresh Prince" Will Smith in "Ali" and Tom Cruise in "Collateral"). And now "Ray" is his legitimate shot at center stage.
"Ray" succeeds at a few things: Foxx does an uncanny impression, the supporting actresses are quite moving (Kerry Washington and Regina King, specifically) and the film does a great job at capturing a period (hence the term "period piece"). Like "Man on the Moon," in which Jim Carrey played comedian Andy Kaufman, the faults of "Ray" lie more in the storytelling and direction than in the actor's intrinsic performance. Foxx's spot-on take on the beloved Ray Charles is diminished by the heartbreaking but excessive flashbacks of Charles' youth and the occasional made-for-TV vibe that's presented by questionably choppy editing.
Throughout the film there are non-sequential jumps depicting a young Charles haunted by his Jim Crow roots and his inaction during his baby brother's drowning. While the technique may appear a good concept on paper, the flashbacks look more like over-dramatized druggy trips. So when it comes time for Charles to actually go to rehab after suffering from heroin withdrawal, the "Requiem for a Dream" scene loses its effect since we've already been exposed to this form of storytelling.
In spite of this, the story of Ray Charles is worth watching. The disability, drugs, discrimination, loss, infidelities and dirt-poor-turned-mega-platinum riches is engrossing, endearing and entertaining.
Still, the film isn't a glorification of his successes. Foxx portrays Charles the junkie, Charles the adulterer and Charles the absent father. One minute he's innocent and harmless, the next minute he's cold and callous. There's no selective memory here, and Hackford portrays Charles as he was, not as he's remembered by the casual public.
But in contrast to "Man on the Moon," which emphasized Andy Kaufman as more of a performer and less of a human, "Ray" de-emphasizes the performer and places more prominence on his personal life. A focus on music is absent (the only full song plays during the credits), and the Charles rooted in jazz is gone. Instead, the film concentrates on the Ray Charles who seamlessly interwove blues, jazz, gospel, R&B, country and orchestration throughout his prolific and expansive discography.
The film also suffers from the stereotypical Hollywood happy ending. Charles drank gin and smoked pot until he died, and his marriage with Della ended in 1976, according to Charles biographer David Ritz. But "Ray" paints him as a man who changed his life, from a drug abuser to someone who abstained from vice. It also incorrectly implies that his marriage remained strong until his death.
Despite a questionable script and direction, Foxx still does a brilliant, bang-up job. By the end of "Ray," one thing is clear: he'll get an Oscar nomination, or he'll either be the second "In Living Color" star transformed into a biopic actor to be passed up for a nomination and/or he'll add to the Spike Lee Afro-phobic Oscars conspiracy theory.
