Ray

I was prepared to love the movie "Ray" for the soundtrack alone, and I was not disappointed. However, I found other reasons to love it. Jamie Foxx is incredible and certainly deserves an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Ray Charles. The actor has Ray Charles' mannerisms, voice and style down so well that it was easy to believe one is actually seeing Ray on screen. Foxx captures Ray's total commitment to his music.

Ray's use of drugs was fairly well known by his fans, but I'm not sure many people realized the underlying reasons for these problems. Ray's guilt about his brother's death created years of pain for the singer.

He and his mother shared a deep love. The movie captured her ability to rise above her own pain and give him the tough love she thought he needed to survive in the world.

Director Taylor Hackford tries to cover much of his career and does well in his portrayal of the people who took advantage of Ray in his early career. There are questions left unanswered and relationships unresolved, but Ray does overcome his drug addiction.

If you like Ray Charles and his music, or if you like biographies of people who influenced our culture, you'll find this an enjoyable film.