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| RAY (2004) | |
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An individual is the result of all experiences – good and bad. The experiences comprise of the knowledge learned through others, which brings about a change within the person.
This change affects the person’s morals, beliefs, and values, and as the person ventures through life there will be numerous characters with some input to the person.
However, usually there are a few strong characters that stick out in a person’s mind when it comes to those who enlightened them on their path through life.
Ray Charles Robinson had several, but one sticks out more than others – his mother. Ray Charles had several interesting experiences and the audience is to visually experience a number of them through the wonderful performance of Jamie Foxx. The story begins with how Ray travels across America by Greyhound while facing prejudice not only to his skin color, but also in regards to his blindness. Through Ray’s experiences the film uses flashbacks to where he learned how to handle several of the situations, as his mother urged him to not accept the pity of others. Instead his mother taught him how to stand on his own two feet, and how to be righteous person with good morals. The moments when Ray recollects his past and his mother’s advice are initially happy with memories of his brother and his mom despite their poverty. However, these memories slowly turn into a darkness and internal turmoil, as Ray begins to hallucinate about water and wet floors. This unhappy memory seems to torment Ray in ways that handicaps him from function like a normal human being. Through his first job as a pianist for a small group he is introduced to pot, which helps him self-medicate his personal issues. Pot ends up being the key to Pandora’s box, as he eventually moves to heavier drugs to deal with his painful memory that seem to burden him beyond reason. Eventually Ray meets Ahmet Ertegun (Curtis Armstrong) from Atlantic Records, and he is intrigued by Ray’s musical skills, and offers him to stop thinking about pennies, and instead focus on making dollars. Through Ray’s partnership with Atlantic Records he is encouraged to develop his own sound, but it is difficult for him, as he has always played what others desired. After a radio interview in Huston, Texas, Ray meets with Della Bea (Kerry Washington) who he ends up marrying, but she also encourages him to be himself in regards to everything. This leads to Ray toward making his own first hit, "I Got a Woman", which brings out Ray’s new and personal sound through a fusion of gospel and rhythm & blues. The music is an essential portion of the film; as it brings light and color into hearing Ray’s way of perceiving the world. Through hit songs with new sounds such as “Georgia on My Mind”, “Hit the Road Jack”, and “Unchain My Heart” among many others Ray Charles’ popularity grew. However, the songs became a tool for him to exorcise his own demons that haunted him through the many experiences that he had acquired while being on the road. Being on the road meant illicit drugs, numerous women, and overwhelming guilt, as he felt ashamed cheating on his wife. Together the guilt and his self-medicated heroin addiction grew stronger while he developed drug jitters and other drug related behaviors. The combined affect of his personal life, drug addiction, and the past memories kept haunting him as he could recall the death of his younger brother for which he still felt tremendous guilt. The world began to close in on him, as the law enforcement was arresting him for drug possession, and his wife was about to leave him while noticing that his musical career were slipping out of his hands. With the many experiences that Ray had he still reflected over what his mother once taught him, and trusted her life lessons to guide him on the right path. Ray is a poignant film by Taylor Hackford who made films such as The Devil’s Advocate (1997) and An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). Hackford brings a very authentic feel to the many places that Ray Charles played though the use of good mise-en-scene, an excellent cast, and vivid cinematography. In addition, the jumps between hallucinations, flashbacks, and reality offer the audience a genuine sense of how Ray must have felt, but this is also enhanced by Jamie Foxx's outstanding performance. The flashbacks, too, are colorful, which accentuates the importance of his childhood, and especially his mother, but it also flashes some light on how important those moments before blindness might have been. The flashbacks are also drenched in emotional substance, which the audience gets to experience through Ray in his dark world. Ultimately, Ray offers the audience a brilliant cinematic experience that should be reflected upon with closed eyes while pondering on our own experiences and those who have affected our life choices. |
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| Taylor Hackford | |
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USA |
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| REVIEWED | |
| 2/3/2005 | |
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The Internet Movie Database. |
