Ray (Widescreen Edition)
by Taylor Hackford
List Price:
Our Price: $14.98
You Save: $5.00 (25%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $0.29 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Clifton Powell, Harry J. Lennix, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina KingDirector: Taylor Hackford
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 153 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-02-01
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Ray (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: Ray: Miss the Movie, Hear the Music
Summary: 2 Stars
In the opening scene of the 2004 docudrama "Ray" we see a tree hung with bottles to trap evil spirits, and Ray's mom Aretha telling him "Don't let nothin' or nobody make you no cripple." He didn't, but director Taylor Hackford did. It's certainly tough for anyone to tranform the 73 year life of the genius of Ray Charles into a two hour movie and make it work. Still, a whole lot more of that great music and a whole lot less of his failings would have gone a long way toward fixing a movie more interested in the evil in the bottles than the beauty of their sound.
Through a series of flashbacks, done in the vivid color of the then-seeing Ray, we learn about his personal "demons". Well, the first of them anyway. At the age of 5 he saw his brother drown, although in autobiographies he tells of trying to get him out unsuccessfully. Water seems to follow screen Ray everywhere after that, done to death at the mercilessly artful hands of Hackford. In an autobiography, Mr. Charles said that although the tragedies of losing his brother and then his mother were the worst things in his life, they were "strangely enough, extraordinarily positive for me." Typical, remarkable Ray. It wasn't the guilt, but the humility and drive that made Ray, RAY.
There are scenes of great courage and strength, especially those involving his mother, Aretha, played with amazing poise by actress Sharon Warren. These scenes go a long way to helping the movie because we get a sense of where Ray got his inner voice, the voice that helped him become and play and sing and "see". Jamie Foxx is totally believable in his role as Ray Charles. It's his fingers we see playing, and his eyes we believe really cannot see. Curtis Armstrong gives a fine performance as Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records, the man who saw the spark and encouraged the originality of the flame in Charles's music.
Ray Charles had some remarkable people in his life. He was a magnet for them through his music and his can-do attitude. Hackford, however, tries to convince us that he was much more a magnet for his vices: heroin and women. We're shown the sweet Ray and talented Ray, then lots and lots of the broken, addicted, nasty Ray. Oh, and then there's some music, too. The great songs are in there, of course, "Hit the Road, Jack", "What'd I say", "It's All Right" and some others. But we're talking about an original inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, creator of over 250 albums, and the inventor of Soul. Hollywood moral: Music is nice, but drugs sell tickets.
Taylor Hackford describes the movie he has made as an "odyssey" with "certain events fictionalized" and "condensed". To those, I'd have to say "for whom?", "no kidding" and "miniaturized". It sugar-coats the ending with kicking his drug habit, dealing with his brother's death and making up with his wife (who he later divorced) all in the last five minutes. And the last 40 years of his life, when some of his best work was produced? Read about it in the blurbs at the bottom while you watch the credits.
In truth, this docudrama serves to introduce Ray "The Genius" Charles to people who, bizarrely, may not know of him. While he overcame the potentially crippling effects of tragedy, blindness, racism, drug abuse, and infidelity, a proper "life story" of this man should focus on his real triumph--his music. Mr. Hackford should remember Aretha's words to Ray at the end of the movie: "You may be blind, but you ain't stupid." Neither are we.
Summary of Ray (Widescreen Edition)
Jamie Foxx's uncannily accurate performance isn't the only good thing about Ray. Riding high on a wave of Oscar buzz, Foxx proved himself worthy of all the hype by portraying blind R&B legend Ray Charles in a warts-and-all performance that Charles approved shortly before his death in June 2004. Despite a few dramatic embellishments of actual incidents (such as the suggestion that the accidental drowning of Charles's younger brother caused all the inner demons that Charles would battle into adulthood), the film does a remarkable job of summarizing Charles's strengths as a musical innovator and his weaknesses as a philandering heroin addict who recorded some of his best songs while flying high as a kite. Foxx seems to be channeling Charles himself, and as he did with the life of Ritchie Valens in La Bamba, director Taylor Hackford gets most of the period details absolutely right as he chronicles Ray's rise from "chitlin circuit" performer in the early '50s to his much-deserved elevation to legendary status as one of the all-time great musicians. Foxx expertly lip-syncs to Ray Charles' classic recordings, but you could swear he's the real deal in a film that honors Ray Charles without sanitizing his once-messy life. --Jeff ShannonMore on Ray Charles
 Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (CD) |  The Genius of Ray Charles (CD) |  Ray Charles and Betty Carter--Dedicated to You (CD) |
 Genius & Soul--The 50th Anniversary Collection (CD) |  Ray: A Tribute to the Movie, the Music, and the Man (book) |  More Albums by Ray Charles |
Drama DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Actors who won a Golden Globe 1995 - 2008
Ed Wood (Special Edition)Release date: 2004-10-19; DVD
Best price: $10.42
Price in other shops:
Four Weddings and a Funeral (Deluxe Edition)Release date: 2006-01-31; DVD
Best price: $2.88
Price in other shops:
Forrest Gump (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)HANKS/FIELD/WRIGHT/WILLIAMSON/; Release date: 2001-08-28; DVD
Best price: $5.70
Price in other shops:
12 Monkeys (Collector's Edition)Release date: 1998-03-31; DVD
Best price: $9.23
Price in other shops:
Get ShortyRelease date: 1997-03-26; DVD
Best price: $1.91
Price in other shops:
Leaving Las VegasRelease date: 2000-01-01; DVD
Best price: $4.19
Price in other shops:
Primal FearGERE,RICHARD; Release date: 1998-10-21; DVD
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops:
Jerry Maguire (Special Edition)Release date: 2002-04-30; DVD
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
ShineRelease date: 1997-07-16; DVD
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
Boogie NightsWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-07-03; DVD
Best price: $12.89
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
![The Pianist [HD DVD] Image](/images/The-Pianist-HD-DVD-B000XNZ7LG-X.jpg)
The Pianist [HD DVD]UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.; Release date: 2008-01-08; DVD
Best price: $10.80
Price in other shops:
TrafficRelease date: 2002-06-25; DVD
Best price: $2.97
Price in other shops:
The Mummy Returns (Widescreen Collector's Edition)Release date: 2001-10-02; DVD
Best price: $7.37
Price in other shops:
The UntouchablesRelease date: 2001-01-16; DVD
Best price: $6.90
Price in other shops:
The Mummy (Widescreen Collector's Edition)Release date: 1999-09-28; DVD
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops:
![Apollo 13 [HD DVD] Image](/images/Apollo-13-HD-DVD-B000FA57NK-X.jpg)
Apollo 13 [HD DVD]Universal; Release date: 2006-04-25; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Cinderella Man (Widescreen Edition)UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.; Release date: 2005-12-06; DVD
Best price: $4.22
Price in other shops:
Seabiscuit (Widescreen Edition)Release date: 2003-12-16; DVD
Best price: $2.50
Price in other shops:
Million Dollar Baby (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-07-12; DVD
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
![Casino [HD DVD] Image](/images/Casino-HD-DVD-B000JJSJR8-X.jpg)
Casino [HD DVD]Universal; Release date: 2006-12-19; DVD
Best price: $7.47
Price in other shops: