MUSICALS - RAY(2004)
Some of the good parts: this has Wickett in it(Warwick
Davis) from Star Wars VI: Return Of The Jedi!! Also here
is Richard Schiff(The West Wing)!! Ray's music, of course
is superb!! The acting is really good! And according to
IMDb, Jammie played all the piano scenes himself!!
But the bad, and this is big, there's no positives to
this! Yep, Ray lived a tough life for quite a while!
He had some really tough times, many of them brought
on by his chosen life style! But, this unfortunately
throws the breaks on before he gets his life together!
That is a tragedy, as a good movie would tell the whole
story! And then, on the other hand, perhaps he never did
have that big turn around, as, after he was busted for
drugs in 1965, he did get himself off of them, but he
never did straighten up his personal life with his wife,
and wound up with 12 kids, only 4 with his wives!! And
the length of this gets tedious, to where you keep track
of the time hoping that the ending is coming up soon!
That's why I give this a - B
From IMDb.com:
Truly wonderful Bluesy Jazz biopic of Ray Charles and
his battle with disability, racism, addiction, death,
exploitation and the search for 'his' sound. An absolute
star turn from Jamie Foxx.
The film portrays a troubled yet brilliant life, coping
with a harsh but loving childhood, turbulent behaviour
and the rigours of touring. Ray treads a similar path
to Johnny Cash and even Elvis with the substance abuse
and megalomania.
As you'd expect the music is fantastic, I had no idea
how much Ray Charles I knew and loved, the hatred oozing
from one of the "Hit the Road Jack" renditions is just
splendid.
Great movie and yet more proof that you can't beat a good
biopic.- #BigRonFilmReviews