Ray (film)

Ray
Theatrical film poster
Directed by	Taylor Hackford
Produced by	Taylor Hackford Stuart Benjamin Howard Baldwin Karen Baldwin
Written by	James L. White
Starring	Jamie Foxx Kerry Washington Regina King Larenz Tate Clifton Powell C.J. Sanders Curtis Armstrong
Music by	Craig Armstrong Ray Charles (songs)
Cinematography	Paweł Edelman
Editing by	Paul Hirsch
Studio	Bristol Bay Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	October 29, 2004 (2004-10-29)
Running time	152 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40 million
Box office	$124,731,534

Ray is a 2004 biographical film focusing on 30 years of the life of rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles. The independently produced film was directed by Taylor Hackford and starred Jamie Foxx in the title role; Foxx received an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance.

Charles was set to attend an opening of the completed film, but he died of liver disease in June, several months before its premiere.

Plot

Raised on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles Robinson went blind at the age of seven, shortly after witnessing his younger brother's death. Inspired by a fiercely independent mother who insisted he make his own way in the world, Charles found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered incorporating gospel, country, jazz and orchestral influences into his inimitable style.

As he revolutionized the way people appreciated music, he simultaneously fought segregation in the very clubs that launched him and championed artists’ rights within the corporate music business. The movie provides a portrait of Charles’ musical genius as he overcomes heroin addiction while transforming into one of his country’s most beloved performers.

Cast

• Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles
• Sharon Warren as Ray Charles' mother, Aretha Robinson
• Kerry Washington as Della Bea Robinson
• Regina King as Margie Hendricks
• Renee Wilson as Pat Lyle
• Larenz Tate as Quincy Jones
• Harry Lennix as Joe Adams
• Clifton Powell as Jeff Brown
• Curtis Armstrong as Ahmet Ertegun
• Richard Schiff as Jerry Wexler
• Kurt Fuller as Sam Clark
• Richard A. Smith as Til
• Patrick Bauchau as Dr. Hacker
• Terrence Howard as Gossie McKee
• Chris Thomas King as Lowell Fulson
• Wendell Pierce as Wilbur Brassfield
• Bokeem Woodbine as David "Fathead" Newman
• Aunjanue Ellis as Mary Ann Fisher
• C. J. Sanders as Young Ray Robinson
• Denise Dowse as Marlene Andres
• Warwick Davis as Oberon
• David Krumholtz as Milt Shaw

Production

The film's production was entirely financed by Philip Anschutz, through his Bristol Bay Productions company. Taylor Hackford stated in a DVD bonus feature that it took 15 years to make the film. He later clarified in the liner notes of the soundtrack album that it took that time to secure financing.

Charles was given a Braille copy of the film's original script; he objected only to a scene showing him taking up piano grudgingly, and a scene implying that Charles had shown mistress and lead "Raelette" Margie Hendricks to shoot heroin.

Ray debuted at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival.

Soundtrack

See also: Ray (soundtrack)

The following songs were used in the film:

• "Every Day I Have the Blues"
• "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand"
• "Mess Around"
• "I Got a Woman"
• "Hallelujah, I Love Her So"
• "Drown in My Own Tears"
• "What Kind of Man Are You?"
• "Mary Ann"
• "Leave My Woman Alone"
• "Night Time Is the Right Time"
• "I Believe To My Soul"
• "What'd I Say"
• "Georgia on My Mind"
• "Hit the Road Jack"
• "Unchain My Heart"
• "You Don't Know Me"
• "I Can't Stop Loving You"
• "Bye Bye Love"
• "Born to Lose"
• "Hard Times (No One Knows Better Than I)"

Reception

Box office

Ray was released in theaters on October 29, 2004 on a budget of $40 million. The film went on to become a box-office hit, earning $75 million in the U.S. with an additional $50 million internationally, bringing its world wide gross to $125 million.

Critical reaction

The film received mostly positive reviews. Most of the praise went to Jamie Foxx's performance for which he was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film however did receive some bad reviews, with critics complaining that the film suffered from a mediocre screenplay buoyed by powerful performances. Currently Ray has a certified fresh rating of 81% based on 188 reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.

Awards

Main article: List of accolades received by Ray (film)

Differences from noted events

As noted in the film's final credits, Ray is based on true events, but includes some characters, names, locations, and events which have been changed and others which have been "fictionalized for dramatization purposes." Examples of the fictionalized scenes include:

• In the film, when Ray's younger brother George drowns in their mother's wash tub, he stands there and does nothing as George drowns (because he thought George was joking). In his autobiography, Charles remembers trying to pull his brother out of the tub after realizing he was drowning but was unable to save him.
• In the studio scene where Charles is taught the "Mess Around," he is told it is in the "key of G." The "Mess Around" is actually in the key of E flat.
• "Hit the Road Jack" is not written by Ray Charles, which is how it is portrayed in the film, but by Percy Mayfield.
• In the film, after reaching Seattle, when he arrives at the club he's going to audition at, Ray meets a teenage Quincy Jones that very night. This event is semi-true. Ray actually met Quincy a few days after arriving.

External links

• Official website
• Ray at the Internet Movie Database
• Ray at AllRovi
• Ray at Box Office Mojo
• Ray at Rotten Tomatoes
• Taylor Hackford's Unchained Art, an October 2004 article from the Washington Post
• Craig Armstrong (Score Composer for Ray)
• It's a shame about Ray a review at Slate Magazine that lists factual inaccuracies
• questions about the film