Ray (2004)

Ever since his childhood, Ray Robinson (publicized as Ray Charles, of course, to avoid confusion with Sugar Ray Robinson) lived a tough life. He was only a mere child when he witnessed his brother drown in a bathtub, and for his whole life, he carried with him the grief of knowing he could have saved his brother. Less than a year later, Ray began suffering from blindness and was forced to find his way around using his other four senses, mainly his sense of touch. Early on in his adulthood, he was discovered to excel at both voice and the piano. His career rose exponentially, despite some controversy over him supposedly transforming gospel music used to praised the Lord into sacrilegious songs with sexual subtexts, with hits such as "I Got a Woman", "Hit the Road", and "Georgia on My Mind"-many of his songs we recognize today very well and don't even associate with him-but at the same time his outside life began to fall. Ray was dealing with segregation and drug addiction, a factor that basically collapsed the rest of his personal life, and would have destroyed his career quickly, had he not produced such hits to keep it alive.

There are some discrepancies between the film interpretation RAY and the actual events, so I've heard, but I'd say these changes were made for the benefit of producing a story that flows. The film is a heavy character study, and it seems the extended version grants it even more depth, with over twenty-five extra minutes of flashbacks and musical footage that did not appear in the theatrical cut. It's not a necessary edit to the film, but I'd recommend it. The story here, extended or not, is about as fluent as most great stories, something difficult for a biographical film to achieve. This isn't THE IRON LADY. Ray's heroin addiction isn't presented for half the film, just as dementia was in that more recent film. Writers Taylor Hackford and James L. White want to make it very clear that there were many equally problematic situations that occurred during the performer's lifetime, spreading them out and transitioning between them evenly. It's a shame Ray Charles himself passed away only a few months before his biographical picture was released. For anyone who appreciates soul music-or at least its king-as much as I do, the film is essential. It isn't perfect, nor is it set up any different than the ideal biopic, but it's otherwise stunning.

read the uncut review at themoviefreakblog.com