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Ray
Universal Pictures


8.8

based on 40 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 47 votes
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FILM:

MUSIC:

Jamie Foxx: Unpredictable

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for depiction of drug addiction, sexuality and some thematic elements

Starring Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King, Clifton Powell, Harry J. Lennix, Bokeem Woodbine, Aunjanue Ellis, and Sharon Warren

Ray is the never-before-told, musical biographical drama of American legend Ray Charles. Featuring Jamie Foxx in the central role, Ray follows the inspiring story of a one-of-a-kind genius. (Universal)

GENRE(S):	Drama \| Musical
WRITTEN BY:	James L. White (also story) Taylor Hackford (story)
DIRECTED BY:	Taylor Hackford
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: February 1, 2005 Video: February 1, 2005 Theatrical: October 29, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	152 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

Jamie Foxx received an Oscar for his lead performance. The film was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director (Hackford) at the 77th Annual Academy Awards.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A fit tribute to an entertainer who, no matter what hate or hardship threw in his way or how many mistakes he made, we can't stop loving.

100

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

An extraordinary piece of biography.

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie would be worth seeing simply for the sound of the music and the sight of Jamie Foxx performing it. That it looks deeper and gives us a sense of the man himself is what makes it special.

100

Salon.com Charles Taylor

What Ray does right, combined with its generosity of spirit, makes it the most satisfying American movie of the year.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

As a musical biography, Ray is driven by the primal excitement of rock-and-soul at the moment of its discovery.

Time Richard Corliss

If there were an Oscar for ensemble acting, Ray would win in a stroll.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

At the center of it all is an incomparable singer brought to life by a sensational actor. With a huge soul to fill, Jamie Foxx has filled it to overflowing.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Contains large helpings of Hollywood schmaltz, stereotype and clich‚, but it's also pretty impossible to resist.

USA Today Mike Clark

Ray could not have been made without star Jamie Foxx.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Every once in a while, a performance pops out of a Hollywood movie that is so brilliant and unique to the matching of actor to role that it's impossible to imagine anyone else achieving it.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Jamie Foxx gets so far inside the man and his music that he and Ray Charles seem to breathe as one.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Brilliantly embodied by Jamie Foxx in this unflinching, entertaining biography.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

A frequently transporting depiction of the early and middle life of Ray Charles, the film soars on remarkable performances, a convincing sense of time and place, and, of course, the glorious music for which Charles was rightly billed as The Genius.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

There may not be a bigger-hearted performance this year than Jamie Foxx's in Ray.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Bursting at the seams with music, Taylor Hackford's ambitious film provides a good sense of the pioneering entertainer's extraordinary journey and brings it to life with plenty of colorful detail.

The New Yorker David Denby

Vibrantly intelligent and tough-minded bio-pic.

Empire Angie Errigo

Falling on the meaty, potential role of a lifetime like a ravenous lion, erstwhile comedian Jamie Foxx, so good in "Collateral," is just wonderful as the eponymous star.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

It's conventional in approach and sometimes sentimental, even corny, in its content. But there were so many fascinating overtones in Mr. Charles's life and career that any account of them is bound to be riveting at least part of the time.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

If Ray fails to present a genuine portrait of a complex man's essence, it does leave you with an even greater sense of awe for Charles' accomplishments, both in his personal and public lives.

Premiere Peter Debruge

Delivers platinum performances, especially Sharon Warren as Ray's tough-lovin' mother, Kerry Washington as his lily-tempered wife, and Regina King as his spitfire mistress.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Foxx's complex performance and the filmmaker's willingness to look at the dark side place Ray safely out of the realm of typical Hollywood hagiography.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Ray may be too by the numbers, but with Jamie Foxx out front, this is one film that knows how to make it all add up.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

While not a great movie, is a very good movie about greatness, in which celebrating the achievement of one major artist becomes the occasion for the emergence of another.

Washington Post Teresa Wiltz

It is to the film's credit -- and Foxx's -- that we are able to see, behind the flash and fury, a man who didn't know how to love, and was so much the lonelier for it.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

No matter the movie's pitfalls, Ray, we can't stop loving you.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

He (Ray) was, a more complicated man than this film, or perhaps any film, dares allow. Foxx is not at fault here.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

It's a shame his (Foxx) performance isn't surrounded by a better film.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Ray rambles on for two hours and 40 minutes, mining repetitive episodes like a TV miniseries.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

It's a shame about Ray, because Foxx is trapped in a movie that takes the music icon's unique story and turns it into cheesy, sentimental American Dream cliches.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Unlike his songs, the film holds something back. It goes deep into a life filled with as much trouble and pain as triumph and accomplishment but never quite gets at the root of who Ray is.

Newsweek David Ansen

It's hobbled by the too-familiar conventions of the musical biopic: with so many chapters of Charles's life to cover, Hackford's movie never finds a rhythm, a groove, to settle into. It wins its battles without winning the war.

New York Magazine Ken Tucker

Sure, it’s the Jamie Foxx breakout role. But the movie around it is so systematically “inspirational” that it comes perilously close to sabotaging the breakout.

TV Guide Ethan Alter

Foxx is the one standout in an otherwise overcrowded film.

Film Threat Rick Kisonak

The heart of Ray, of course, is the music and, whatever other shortcomings the film may have, it does not fall short as a showcase for the artist's greatest hits.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Differs from other authorized Hollywood musical biopics in one striking detail: its subject, still alive when most of this was made, is almost never shown as a likable person.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Sluggish, conventional, and almost completely lacking in energy.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Hackford's movie falls into a meandering saunter. As the music grows dull, so does the movie.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

As Ray nears its abrupt ending, it veers into camp silliness, complete with a psychedelic freak-out withdrawal sequence straight out of a Roger Corman LSD epic.

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

Were it not for the performance of Foxx, the movie, which touches every base and slows to a crawl near home plate, would sink even when the score soars.

LA Weekly Kim Morgan

For too many minutes of its two and a half hours, Ray flips through its cinematic pages with a breathless and-then-this-happened urgency, offering up little in the way of personality (or truth) beyond Jamie Foxx's strong performance.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 47 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

casey k. gave it a10:
It was the best movie ever! i loved it because i cried and smiled! ray charles is a strong man!

Nick H gave it a6:
Jamie Foxx may give a wonderful performance as Ray, but the movie on a whole isn't all that good. Outside of the character Ray, most of the dialouge is akwardly written. Regina King is the only one in the supporting cast who takes the script by the horns and really shines. Hackford, while a decent director, didn't seem ready to go out and make this movie - the whole film has a sort of "made for TV" look about it. Sometimes I wonder that if Ray Charles hadn't died, would this movie have been so "amazing" to so many people? I doubt it, but Foxx and King would have still gotten the credit they deserved.

Chuck M. gave it an8:
Best musical performance by an actor that I've ever seen - Jamie Foxx does a great job of convincing me (a professional musician) that he was Ray Charles & could play the piano. I liked the movie, but was not incredibly simpathetic for a drug-using adulterer.

BruiNation gave it a10:
The character of a trully great film is not how perfectly well it is produced, written, or directed, but how well it inspires you afterward. Ask yourself this...do you want to know more about Ray Charles, having seen this movie? Did you feel sorry for him, or did he make you angry? Either way, you must agree, he was a fantastic entertainer, his story needed to be told...if nothing more than to help understand what trully drives a man to genius. This is the Best Film of the Year. Period. Way more inspiring than Million Dollar Baby. Jamie Foxx makes this movie possible. No question. See it, if nothing more than to capture a glimpse into the life of a man worthy of his fame, despite the realities of his persona.

Peter J. gave it a9:
Excellent movie. Jamie Foxx was sensational. I am not really into Ray's music all that much, but his "story" is what makes this movie. He overcame 3 tragedies at a young age, watching his young brother drown, going blind, and losing his mother. That, along with growing up in poverty, makes his success story even better. It is sad, however, that Ray got addicted to drugs and could not stop womanizing. Great movie.

y. chavez gave it a7:
It was a really good movie and it stole my heart. it is deprssing to see a talented young, disabled man fall due to drugs but i was very happy at the end when he finally changed even if it was hard for him.

Charlie P gave it a6:
The musical numbers are great, Jamie Foxx does a great job, but the script just stinks. In an effort to cover an entire life's ups and downs in just 2 hours, every big event is compressed into such a tiny bit of dialogue that the whole things gets melodramatic and campy. By all means, go for the music, but don't expect anything more than that.

Ray Universal Pictures

Ray
Universal Pictures