Jamie Foxx goes above and beyond in an electrifying performance as Ray Charles in Ray, which recently marked its 20th anniversary.

What surprises me all these years later is that this film was independently produced rather than a studio giving it a greenlight. It took a long time for filmmakers to secure the financing. It’s surprising because we’re talking about Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx) here. His soul and R&B music in the 1950s would have a tremendous influence on what was to come throughout the 20th century. I mean, here is a guy who became an inaugural member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and later won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1988! The mere fact that it took until 2004–after his death, mind you–is utterly ridiculous.

James L. White’s script does take a bit too many liberties in telling the musician’s life story. In a pre-Walk Hard world, of course, they follow Ray Charles through way too many years of his career. There certainly needs to be a narrower focus in terms of the musical biopic. It isn’t just that they follow Charles between the mid-1940s through mid-1960s but they also flashback to his childhood, too. His childhood was rough enough as it was with going blind and his brother, George, drowning. While George did drown in real life, Ray did not stand still as the movie implies. He tried pulling his brother out and when that failed, he went to get his mother.

There is a lot that one can say about fact vs. fiction in this film. It’s exactly why I’m not making my typical deep dive into the film’s plot. White’s script follows Ray Charles Robinson–later, just Ray Charles–as he becomes a hit musician. He starts out with a few bands, later going out on his own. The film doesn’t shy away from his heroin addiction or marital affairs. Unlike what Ray implies, Ray never asked Margie Hendricks (Regina King) to have an abortion. A really interesting choice is placing the backup singer’s death in 1964–she died in 1973. All in all, they pack in a lot of material in the 2.5 hour film. The length is not a problem because Foxx is lifting the film higher and higher through his performance.

Jamie Foxx performs so magnificently that one must pay attention to the credits to figure out which tracks sees him performing and which ones utilize Ray’s vocals. And yes, it’s one of those films where you cannot help but want to sing along! Play the air guitar or the air piano until your heart is content. Many of his best hit songs during this time period are in the film. Because the film ends in 1965–except for the 1979 epilogue–we never see Ray recording the American patriotic anthem, “America the Beautiful.” It’s okay because there are so many other songs on the soundtrack.

Filmmakers focus on a number of key moments in his life. Does everything play out in real life as it does in the film? Not everything, unfortunately. Too many filmmakers are guilty of taking dramatic liberties. The 1961 lifetime ban from Georgia is completely fictional. Sure, they named “Georgia on My Mind” as the official state song and Charles performed for the Georgia State Legislature but there was no ban to apologize for. If anything, they should be apologizing for the racist history of their state. And yet, this specific scene was included at Ray Charles’ request. Interestingly enough, the earlier protests that led to his cancelling a later-rescheduled gig were through telegram, not outside the venue.

Jamie Foxx’s astonishing performance is the big highlight and rightfully so, but Ray suffers like many musical biopics as the film takes too many dramatic liberties with real-life events and stretches out too many years.

DIRECTOR: Taylor Hackford
SCREENWRITER: James L. White
CAST: Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Harry Lennix, Terrence Howard, Larenz Tate, Bokeem Woodbine, Sharon Warren, Curtis Armstrong, Richard Schiff, Wendell Pierce, Chris Thomas King, David Krumholtz, Kurt Fuller, Warwick Davis, Patrick Bauchau, Robert Wisdom, Denise Dowse, and Regina King

Universal Pictures released Ray in theaters on October 29, 2004. Grade: 4/5

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