By Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
Jamie Foxx as American legend Ray Charles in the biographical drama 'Ray'. - CONTRIBUTED
RAY GETS under the skin about two seconds after the film begins and even when it is over more than two hours later it probably will not have left. The movie is positively radiant! Ray is charming, funny and filled to the brim with soul.
Courtesy of Cable and Wireless Jamaica Limited, the Island Cinema, New Kingston, was crammed with an eager audience for the first glimpse of Ray with its Jamaican premiere on Monday night. The premiere was another of CWJ's Night at the Movies. And what a night it was!
Ray, starring Jamie Foxx is the story of the life of Ray Charles. The film gives an intimate portrayal of the man, his music and how it intertwined with his life. Ray Charles' genius is interwoven with his trials and the result is that his humanity comes pouring forth. He is painted as neither villain nor hero. However, one cannot help but admire much of the way he handled his life.
CHILDHOOD LESSONS
The story bops through Charles' adulthood and childhood, mixing the two together so it is always clearly highlighted how childhood lessons and demons walked with him throughout his life. The music was, of course, not the only great performer of the night, because Jamie Foxx was superb. His performance in Ray could easily be the performance of his career, but at the rate he is going, it seems he has just started. His delivery was the kind that urges one to wax on poetically in an attempt to capture how brilliantly convincing he was. Foxx was positively enigmatic!
The movie also features a slew of other actors who deliver great supporting performances. Regina King breaks out of her role as the strong black woman, to deliver the tormented and later rejected Margie Hendricks. The film also features Larenz Tate (Quincy Jones), Clifton Powell (Jeff Brown), Bookime Woodbine (Fathead), and Kerry Washington (Della Bea Robinson).
Writer/director Taylor Hackford did an excellent job of crafting the story, and imbuing it with the feel, movement and rhythm of Charles' music.
PAST AND THE PRESENT
The sense that one is seeing the world through Ray Charles eyes is also effected by the use of a flash of red, which seems like the retina in bright light. These flashes help the film to glide between the past and the present.
The film's cinematography is also quite exquisite and the light-filled images, especially from Charles' childhood, seemed to contrast with a dark world which the audience can only imagine, but never see that features in his later years and to which he refers often. In giving the intriguing life story of the late Ray Charles, Ray can introduce or reintroduce the consummate performer to a whole other generation. Ray Charles' music is indeed a major co-star of the movie, as it is used to help drive the plot, or give insight into the man. So, even to those who were already fans, Ray provides additional insight into the music that made the man and the man who made the music. It certainly makes you want to listen to the music all over again, but this time with some new insight.
