Monday, December 13, 2004

What I'd Say (a movie review)

Ray
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I finally saw "Ray" yesterday after having wanted to since it was released in October, both due to the subject and the excellent reviews it -- and particularly Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles -- received. I was not disappointed and certainly found Foxx to be phenomenal; he deserves to receive the Best Actor Oscar, even over Johnny Depp's excellent turn in "Finding Neverland." The movie itself may deserve to be nominated (there's still several I need to see, like "Sideways" and the upcoming "The Aviator"), though it didn't quite reach the highest heights. It was a very well-crafted portrayal of an incredibly talented and admirable, though flawed, man; that said, it didn't seem all that revelatory. The movie's timeline basically ended in 1965 and along with Charles' musical genius, one of the central elements of the movie was Ray's addiction to heroin and ultimate struggle to conquer it. Though the movie doesn't say it, from what I've read on AllMusic.com, although Ray had a career for nearly 40 years since the mid-60's (until his death this year), his peak -- in terms of hits, creative brilliance and popularity -- pretty much stopped then. I'm not saying he should've kept doing smack, but there obviously seems to be a connection the movie never quite made.

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