Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Ray

First of all, I've never heard the full story on Ray Charles so I have no idea if this movie took lavish liberties with the truth. But it certainly was dramatic. Jamie Fox brilliant as Ray Charles. The music was great. It was interesting to find out how the songs got created. And I had no idea I knew most of them. That's how much he's ingrained in our pop culture.

Ray Charles, before he lost his vision, suffers from watching his brother drown in a wash basin and blames himself for it the rest of his life. To quiet his inner demons, he starts heroin. There are many flashbacks from childhood of how he learned to deal with his blindness and instead of crippling himself, he turned his impediment into pure gold, records.

Greed and self destruction insue, which is much like the storyline of every rock star we've ever heard of. But in order to appreciate the Ray Charles legacy, it's important to know that he overcomes his inner demons and brings the world many first's-- mainly blues and gospel in a new inspirational form-- all his own.

Although the story was compelling, I got distracted by the screen swipes since they only went from left to righ as though advances have never been made in that department. But that's just the movie geek in me.

If you want to watch the internal struggle of a musician trying to make good, this is the story for you. If you're not a journeyman, pass on it. It makes you want to believe.

Worth the money rating: $$$$

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