Ranks with the great performances of all time. Jamie Foxx really pulled of Ray Charles.

Like King Lear, Charles is shown more sinned against than sinning. He hurts people close to him, but nemesis does not terminate in tragedy: Suffering much, at the end his stature is universally acclaimed and he looks, well, pretty happy. Contradicting formula works because we want this sympathetic character to do well. Nothing wrong with that, especially as it appears to resemble real life. As near-perfect a film as you could ask for. Chitlin Circuit aspects can be compared to the Charlie Parker biopic ‘Bird.’

Great film. Jamie Foxx is excellent as Ray Charles. A nice insight as to how the music business worked in the 50's and 60's, while following the career of Ray Charles. The recording studio scenes send a shiver up my spine. So that's how REAL humans recorded REAL music. Not an Auto-tune machine or computer in sight, perfect.

Great commentary also.

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For some reason, I never saw this movie until now. I am sorry to have waited so long. It's excellent. Great performances, music, direction, editing, sound editing, everything. Pick it up and give it a spin. Your feet will be bouncing along with the music.

Outstanding biopic about Ray Charles.

Great movie. Jamie Foxx did an incredible job.

This is a 2004 biographical film directed by Taylor Hackford.
It focuses on 30 years of the life of rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles.
Jamie Foxx plays superbly as the title role.
It truly is uncanny.
He physically looks like him, especially with the glasses, but the true magic of the performance is that he acts just like him.
He walks around and performs like him, smiles like him, and just does everything like him.
Naturally, Jamie Foxx received an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance.
The film itself is good, too.
However, it fails to make a smooth transition in several parts and lulls in some parts, while not lingering long enough in others.
It's hard to pack 70 years into two and a half hours, anyway.
Two of the main dramatic focuses are Ray's infidelity on the road and his heroine addiction.
After all, it's a celebration of the life of Ray Charles that must be seen by all of his fans.

July 26, 2014.....great movie, I had no idea just how talented Ray Charles was, how long a career he had, or how he was such a womanizer! (He was such a bad boy!) Interesting that both Ray Charles and Johnny Cash lost brothers to tragic accidents, and how it haunted them in their later years. Then there is the nasty drug trap.......glad I was never an entertainer!