It was a couple of summers ago while on vacation that my friend Dan told me something about the singer and performer Ray Charles that I had never heard before. I can't remember what the fact was, but it made me realize that I didn't know very much about Ray Charles even though I had seen him perform on television many times in my youth. I knew he was African American, but I didn't know where he had grown up or how he became a musician. I knew he was blind, but I had never heard how or when he became blind. I knew he was famous for singing "Georgia On My Mind" but was Ray Charles from Georgia? Now, it would be easy to go on the Internet and Google Ray Charles but then I remembered that there was a movie biopic about Ray Charles that starred Jamie Foxx (COLLATERAL) as Ray. In fact, Jamie Foxx won the Academy Award for his portrayal of Ray Charles in RAY (another piece of information I had forgotten).
CRAZYFILMGUY has had a love/hate relationship with biopics about music entertainers especially rock stars or bands/groups. From Oliver Stone's THE DOORS (1991) to the more recent BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (2018) about Queen's front man Freddie Mercury or ROCKETMAN (2019) chronicling Elton John's life, these biopics all begin strongly with the rise from obscurity and overcoming obstacles to become a huge star. But inevitably, the second half of these films show the singer or band begin to succumb to the excesses of fame: drugs, alcohol, sex, and self destructive behavior. The filmmakers seem to revel more in the excess and not enough on the music. Yes, in most cases, the singer or band get a second chance or rebirth or epiphany and rise again in the third act. But as a viewer, I'm worn out by their Bacchanalian behavior.
Since I don't know Ray Charles's background, it will be interesting to see if his life follows this pattern. I have a feeling it will but how the filmmakers handle Ray's story will be the litmus test. RAY was directed by Taylor Hackford, better known for AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN (1982) with Richard Gere and Debra Winger and his modern remake of the classic film noir classic OUT OF THE PAST (1947) called AGAINST ALL ODDS (1984) starring Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward. But when Hackford wasn't making dramas, he dabbled in music-oriented films like THE IDOLMAKER (1980) and the ballet drama WHITE NIGHTS (1985). Hackford even directed music videos for Phil Collins and Lionel Ritchie and a star studded documentary about Rock and Roll legend Chuck Berry called CHUCK BERRY: HAIL! HAIL! ROCK 'N' ROLL (1987)
With a screenplay by James L. White based on a story by Taylor Hackford and James L. White, RAY tracks Ray Charles's life from northern Florida in 1948 to Atlanta, Georgia in 1979 with many stops in between. Already blind, Ray Charles Robinson (Jamie Foxx) uses his blindness along with his cleverness to get on a bus from Florida to Seattle where he meets the then unknown Quincy Jones (Larenz Tate). Ray plays his first gigs at a local Seattle club. His piano prowess brings in the crowds but Ray's exploited by the bar's owner/manager Marlene (Denise Dowse) and band member Gossie McGee (Terrence Howard). Ray signs a record deal with Jack Lauderdale (Robert Wisdom) who runs Swing Town Records (Jack has Ray drop his last name Robinson and go by Ray Charles instead). Ray travels the country playing for singer Lowell Fulson (Chris Thomas King). It's during this first tour that Ray is introduced to heroin by his bandmates Fathead Newman (Bokeem Woodbine) and Joe Adams (Harry Lennix).
Throughout the film, RAY has flashbacks to Ray Charles's youth, living with his single mother Aretha Robinson (Sharon Warren) and little brother George (Terrone Bell) on a sharecropping farm in Georgia. The flashbacks include Ray losing his brother to a freak drowning accident in a wash basin, becoming blind at the age of 6, and learning to deal with and overcome his blindness. Back in the present, Ray begins scoring with the ladies. After leaving Fulson's group, Ray's contract is picked up by Ahmet Ertegun (Curtis Armstrong), the Turkish founder of Atlantic Records and his partner Jerry Wexler (Richard Schiff). The three of them try to figure out Ray's niche. Ray can play and sound like anyone, but Ahmet wants him to be distinct. Ray records one of Ahmet's songs "The Mess Around" which becomes a hit. Ray strikes up a relationship with a shy choir singer and daughter of a preacher Della Bea (Kerry Washington).
Ray convinces Ahmet and Jerry he can go on the road and tour under his own name. Ray mixes gospel music with rhythm and blues. Audiences love the sound although Della is not crazy about it. Ray returns home after the tour and marries Della. Della becomes pregnant just as Ray gets ready to tour again. Della discovers Ray's heroin kit and begs him to stop. Ray brushes it off. Ray hires singer Mary Ann Fischer (Anjanue Ellis) to add a female presence to his band. Ray sleeps with Mary Ann while on the road then returns home as Della gives birth to their first child. With his growing popularity, Ray hires an all girl trio "the Raylettes" to back him up. Ray begins an affair with the lead singer Margie Hendricks (Regina King) which sends Mary Ann packing her bags to pursue a solo career.
As Ray's musical career continues to soar, his personal life begins to crumble. Ray debuts an original song at a club called "What'd I Say" that no one has ever heard and he's never recorded. It becomes a hit on the Pop charts. Ray's new agent Milt Shaw (David Krumholtz) gets Ray a better deal with ABC Records and Ray leaves Ahmet and Jerry at Atlantic. Ray and Della move to Los Angeles. Margie discovers she's pregnant with Ray's child but Ray won't leave Della. Ray writes "Hit the Road Jack" which becomes another hit. Margie leaves the trio (and later dies of a drug overdoses). Ray's heroin habit becomes worse and his personal relationships with his original tour manager Jeff Brown (Clifton Powell) and wife Della sour. While returning to the States from a concert in Montreal, Canada, Ray is arrested for drug possession. With the possibility of losing his music and his family, Ray checks into a rehab clinic and kicks his heroin habit. RAY concludes in 1979 with the state of Georgia apologizing for banning him from performing in the state years earlier. State officials make "Georgia On My Mind" the official state song of Georgia.
Does RAY fall into the pitfalls of many musical biopics and dwell too much on the excesses of fame and not enough on the music? Surprisingly, it does not. RAY is an even-handed look at an incredible life with bumps and warts along the way. The filmmakers make an interesting choice by starting the film not when Ray Charles was a child but in 1948 as he begins his career as a musician. But director Hackford inserts flashbacks to Ray's childhood throughout the film, revealing Ray's poor upbringing and the demons that lead him to begin abusing drugs as an adult. RAY doesn't gloss over Ray's drug use and womanizing but the film always moves forward, spotlighting Ray's meteoric rise from playing a little jazz bar in Seattle to performing at auditoriums and arenas.
My concern was RAY might glamorize the dark side of fame as many biopics about entertainers do and gloss over the music. Not to worry. RAY has plenty of Ray Charles's music. What's incredible is all the musical genres that he dabbled in. Jazz, Christian, mixing Christian with R&B, Pop, and even Country & Western. Ray was always changing his style and staying ahead of the curve when it came to his music. RAY also explores the discrimination that he had to deal with not just with his skin color but with his blindness. His first manager, his fellow musicians, they all tried to take advantage of his lack of sight. Initially, Ray would use his handicap to smartly shield himself from racism. Ray's blindness leads him into becoming a savvy businessman when dealing with music industry promoters and executives.
Give credit (and the well-deserved Academy Award for Best Actor) to Jamie Foxx for his portrayal of Ray Charles in RAY. Most of the film, I thought I was watching the actual Ray Charles. It's rare where you don't think once or twice during a film "that's Jamie Foxx playing Ray Charles." But Foxx's performance is that impressive. The way he moves his head like Ray did when performing, how naturally Foxx tackles someone who has lost their sight, the way Foxx talks like Ray Charles. It is a chameleon like performance. Sadly, the real Ray Charles would pass away in 2004 from liver failure a few months before his life story was released in theaters. But he gave his blessing to the film project about his life before filming began, requesting only a few minor changes. The real Ray Charles even appeared as himself in John Landis's 1980 comedy THE BLUES BROTHER starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.
Although Jamie Foxx has a musical background, he began his career as a comedian before becoming one of the cast members on the Fox comedy series IN LIVING COLOR (1991-1994). He followed that series with his own TV show THE JAMIE FOXX SHOW (1996-2001) before branching out into serious films like Michael Mann's COLLATERAL (2004) with Tom Cruise, Bill Condon's DREAMGIRLS (2006) with Eddie Murphy and Beyonce, and as the title character Django in Quentin Tarantino's DJANGO UNCHAINED (2012) with Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz.
RAY boasts two strong female performances by actresses who are well known today but were early in their careers when RAY was released. Kerry Washington has the unenviable role of Ray's wife Della, the quiet unassuming daughter of a preacher who marries Ray and then suffers through his infidelities and drug habit. Della could be a one-dimensional spouse character, but Washington evolves her from a shy young woman to a strong wife and mother who stands up for herself and their family and makes Ray face the hard truth about his actions including missing his son's baseball games. Washington would become the star of the hit ABC drama SCANDAL (2012-2018). She and Jamie Foxx would also appear together again in DJANGO UNCHAINED.
Regina King has the showier role of Margie Hendricks in RAY, one of the Raylettes backup singers who has an affair and becomes pregnant with one of Ray's children. King had been popping up in small roles early in her career including Cameron Crowe's JERRY MCGUIRE (1996) as Cuba Gooding, Jr's wife. Today, she is an Academy Award winning Best Supporting Actress for IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (2018) and an acclaimed director of ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI ... (2020). King's Margie becomes caught up in the fame and success as Ray's backup singer and lover which leads to a tragic end. One last shout out to a favorite supporting actor of mine with the coolest name: Bokeem Woodbine. Woodbine appears as fellow band member Fathead Newman in RAY. Woodbine caught my attention in Season 2 of the FX TV Series FARGO as a charismatic contract killer. Fathead and Ray have a love/hate relationship throughout his career as Fathead is like a second brother.
RAY passes the CrazyFilmGuy test for music biopics. The film doesn't glamorize Ray's drug use and womanizing. It simply shows that as talented as Ray Charles was, he had his flaws. RAY highlights the incredible tenacity of a young blind, black man to forge his career despite terrible obstacles and become one of our most celebrated entertainers. Making RAY special is Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles, creating a truly life like performance.
