we watched this last night. i found it to be curiously uninvolving. the parts that worked best were the musical performances (with ray charles singing). the rest was mostly trite psychologizing, shuffling around questions of history, and the occasional quincy jones sighting (which i think was supposed to stand in for charles’ relationship with 50s/60s jazz). and apparently there is nothing to say about ray charles after the 60s. there’s been a lot of talk about foxx’s performance; it is mostly a series of very good ray charles impressions mixed in with some scenes of very good acting–but i thought the impressions distracted (though the big-time critics disagree). too bad belushi died before getting to do a joe cocker biopic.
since this has been nominated for a best picture oscar i am forced to rate it “overrated”.
Yeah, this film was a disappointment. Let’s blame Taylor Hackford for this overblown, overrated, VH-1’s “Behind the Music”-style biopic. “Ray” is just poorly directed (why would anyone in Hollywood want to work with a guy who has the word “hack” in his name?). After dwelling far too much on Ray’s drug addiction, the film then races to an unsatisfying ending. It never bothers to take the time to give interesting explanations for the man’s choices and actions. He does a country album “because he likes the stories”? And he boycotts his concert in Atlanta just because some guy in a crowd says “pleaseâ€? Like Arnab, I’m not sure what function Quincy Jones serves in the film. To me, he had a kind of “who gives a shit, we’re famous!” attitude which made it even harder to understand how Ray was able to overcome anything. Apparently, the ghost of Momma is no match for a cadre of slick lawyers, unconvincingly compassionate record industry moguls, and super-star producers. And is that really where “Hit the Road, Jack†and “What’d I Say†came from? I don’t mean to say let’s have some historical accuracy. For all I know, the stories behind these classic songs are just that boring. But (stupidly) I want the filmmakers to have some guts and imagination. When the legend is nothing but a batch of boring facts, print the legend.
Hey, where is everyone?