Ray (film)

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Ray

Ray film poster
Directed by Taylor Hackford
Produced by Taylor Hackford
Stuart Benjamin
Howard Baldwin
Karen Baldwin
Written by James L. White
Starring Jamie Foxx
Kerry Washington
Regina King
Larenz Tate
Clifton Powell
C. J. Sanders
Curtis Armstrong
Music by Craig Armstrong
Ray Charles (songs)
Cinematography Paweł Edelman
Editing by Paul Hirsch
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s) October 19, 2004
Language English
Budget $40,000,000 (estimated)[1]
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Ray is a 2004 biopic focusing on thirty years[2] of the life of legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles.

The independently-produced film was directed by Taylor Hackford and starred Jamie Foxx in the title role; Foxx received an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance.

Charles was set to attend an opening of the completed film, but he passed away before it came out.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Born in a small town in Georgia, Ray Charles went blind at the age of seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mother who insisted he make his own way in the world, Charles found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered incorporating gospel, country, jazz and orchestral influences into his inimitable style..

As he revolutionized the way people appreciated music, he simultaneously fought segregation in the very clubs that launched him and championed artists’ rights within the corporate music business. Ray provides a portrait of Charles’ musical genius as he overcomes drug addiction while transforming into one of his country’s most beloved performers.

[edit] Production

The film's production was entirely financed by Philip Anschutz, through his Bristol Bay Productions company. Taylor Hackford stated in a DVD bonus feature that it took 15 years to make the film. He later clarified in the liner notes of the soundtrack album that it took that time to secure financing.

Charles was given a braille copy of the film's original script; he objected only to a scene showing him taking up piano grudgingly, and a scene implying that Charles had shown mistress and lead "Raelette" Margie Hendricks how to shoot heroin.

Ray debuted at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival.

[edit] Reception

[edit] Box office

Ray was released in theatres on October 24, 2004 on a budget of $40 million. The film went on to become a box-office hit, earning $75.3 million in the U.S. with an additional $50 million internationally, bringing its world wide gross to $125 million.

[edit] Critical reaction

The film received mostly positive reviews. Most of the praise went to Jamie Foxx's tour-de-force performance which made him a favorite for the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film however did receive some bad reviews, with critics complaining that the powerful performances were met with a mediocre screenplay.[3] Currently Ray has a certified freshness rating of 81% at rottentomatoes.com.[4]

[edit] Awards

Jamie Foxx was nominated for Best Actor for this film and Best Supporting Actor for Collateral. He is the second actor to have been nominated in both categories in the same year, after Al Pacino. Like Pacino, he won the former, but not the latter.

[edit] Won

[edit] Nominations

  • 77th Academy Awards:
    • Best Picture
    • Best Director (Taylor Hackford)
    • Best Editing (Paul Hirsch)
    • Best Costume Design (Sharen Davis)
  • American Society of Cinematographers: Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases (Paweł Edelman)
  • 58th BAFTA Awards:
    • Best Screenplay - Original (James L. White)
    • Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music (Craig Armstrong)
  • Black Reel Awards: Best Actress - Drama (Regina King), Best Actress - Drama (Kerry Washington), Best Supporting Actor (Clifton Powell), Best Breakthrough Performance (C.J. Sanders)
  • Broadcast Film Critics Association: Best Picture , Best Director (Taylor Hackford)
  • Casting Society of America: Best Feature Film Casting - Drama (Nancy Klopper and Mark Fincannon [location casting])
  • Cinema Audio Society: Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures (Steve Cantamessa, Scott Millan, Greg Orloff and Bob Beemer)
  • Costume Designers Guild: Excellence in Costume Design for Film - Period/Fantasy (Sharen Davis)
  • David di Donatello Awards (Italy): Best Foreign Film
  • Directors Guild of America: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (Taylor Hackford)
  • 62nd Golden Globe Awards:
    • Best Picture - Comedy or Musical
  • Golden Trailer Awards: Best Drama
  • Image Awards: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Clifton Powell), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (C.J. Sanders), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Sharon Warren)
  • MTV Movie Awards: Best Movie, Best Male Performance (Jamie Foxx)
  • Motion Picture Sound Editors: Best Sound Editing in Domestic Features - Dialogue & ADR
  • Online Film Critics Society: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx), Best Supporting Actress (Sharon Warren)
  • Satellite Awards: Best Picture - Comedy or Musical, Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical (Kerry Washington), Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Comedy or Musical (Sharon Warren), Best Director (Taylor Hackfor)
  • Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (Aunjanue Ellis, Jamie Foxx, Terrence Howard, Regina King, Harry J. Lennix, Clifton Powell, Larenz Tate, Kerry Washington)
  • Teen Choice Awards: Choice Movie Actor - Drama (Jamie Foxx), Choice Movie Actress - Drama (Kerry Washington)
  • Young Artist Awards: Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor (C.J. Sanders)

[edit] Cast

[edit] Songs used in the film

See also: Ray (soundtrack)

[edit] Differences from noted events

As noted in the film's final credits, Ray is based on true events, but includes some characters, names, locations, and events which have been changed and others which have been "fictionalized for dramatization purposes." Examples of the fictionalized scenes include:

  • In the film, when Ray's younger brother George drowns in their mother's wash tub, he stands there and does nothing as George drowns. In his autobiography, Ray remembers trying to pull his brother out of the tub after realizing he was drowning but was unable to save him.
  • In the film, Ray Charles is banned in the state of Georgia for not playing at Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia; he refused to play in protest against segregated seating required by Jim Crow laws. In reality, Ray refused to play there after receiving a telegram from angry black college youth who begged him not to do so; Charles ended up having to pay compensation.[citation needed] Notably, it is an angry black college youth, among protestors outside the Bell Auditorium, who convinces Ray in the film.
  • In the last scene, which is at the Georgia State Capitol in 1979, a representative declares that "Georgia on My Mind" is Georgia's official state song and also makes a "public apology" for "banning" Charles. As already noted, no such ban occurred.
  • In the studio scene where Ray is taught the "Mess Around," he is told it's in the "Key of G." The "Mess Around" is actually in the key of E flat.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ray (2004)
  2. ^ Director Hackford noted this focus on the years 1935-1965 in his DVD commentary for the film; the only exception to this focus is the film's final scene featuring Julian Bond and set in the Georgia State Capitol in 1979, a scene Hackford included at Charles' specific request.
  3. ^ Ray - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
  4. ^ Ray - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes

[edit] External links

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Films directed by Taylor Hackford