Monday, February 21, 2005

Jamie Foxx will win the Best Actor Oscar™ for his portrayal of Ray Charles.

I fully expected that word of his portrayal had been exaggerated. But we were only about 15-20 minutes into the movie when I forgot that I wasn’t watching Ray himself. Really, Foxx is quite astounding and must have studied hours of film and video of Ray. I do know that he was able to meet with Ray while they were filming - that had to have helped him as well.

If Foxx doesn’t win (and Leo does for his portrayal of Howard Hughes in The Aviator) then Leo must have been much, much better. But I have a hard time believing that.

Overall, the movie was pretty good. Actually, the movie showed Ray for the musical genius that he was but didn’t ignore his personal demons. Not did it glorify them or use them to explain away his bad behavior. He was a junkie and womanizer and a terrible husband, but he was magnetic and brilliant and driven and willing to work hard to succeed. I’m not a fan of jazz, but there wasn’t a wrong note that ever came from Ray’s fingertips or mouth when he was on stage or in the studio. He was a true pioneer and managed to cross many genres and blend them to make them meld to his own unique style. But the movie itself was kind of long and dragged in places.

I appreciated that the movie honored his mother well. She was a remarkable woman.

I highly recommend this movie with 4 out of 5 stars.