Word: rays
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...Ray...
There is something like ashy molasses in Ray Charles’ voice: dripping syrupy sweet with southern charm yet charged with gritty, unhewn candor, it resonates with a sense of immediacy and emotional clarity that is nothing short of divine. And yet somehow, even after seventeen tedious years of development, Ray, based on Charles’ life, does not muster any semblance of the splendor within his music. The film lacks emotional attachment on any level and fails in every way as a meaningful addition to his life and legacy. With a mix of deceitful, manipulative Hollywood story telling techniques...
...DIED. RAY BOONE, 81, patriarch of the only family to have three generations of baseball All-Stars; of complications from intestinal surgery; in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. An infielder who played for 13 years, mostly with the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers, Boone is better known as the father of catcher Bob Boone and the grandfather of infielders Bret Boone and Aaron Boone...
...ultimately false sense of intimacy and the film frequently inter-cuts between Charles’ sketchy adult life and the recording or performance of some of his biggest hits in an effort to exploit the emotion of Charles’ songs. But there is nothing but distance in Ray; the disruption in tone caused by the frequent comic interludes undermines our ultimate attachment to these characters...
Despite all of its flaws Ray remains somewhat watchable, somehow entertaining. It says all the wrong things in the wrong way but it’s still interesting—Charles led an extraordinary life. Though the film reads more like a bad history lesson than a work that complicates our understanding of a historical figure, Ray is still one to go see—if not for the music then for Foxx. His performance in Collateral is probably more worthwhile, but his Ray Charles certainly deserves wide attention...