"Georgia On My Mind." Ray Charles. The Man. The Music.

The Oscar-winning bio-drama on Ray Charles, who died in June, 2004, shortly before the film's release is an absolute work of art, highlighted by an Academy-Award winning performance by Jamie Foxx ("Collateral") as "The Innovator Of Soul, Ray Charles." The film centers on Ray from the mid-1940's to 1971, interspersed with flashbacks of his childhood, not attempting to sanitize Ray's life. Taylor Hackford ("La Bamba") is very meticulous in depicting the era covered in the film. The production values are excellent. GREAT performances from the entire cast, especially Mr. Foxx.

The DVD edition features two versions of this heartwarming biography: the theatrical cut and the Extended Edition, featuring 14 additional scenes not shown in theaters. Rated PG for thematic elements, depictions of drug addiction and some language.

Great Tale of Surprisingly Flawed, Selfish Genius

Taylor Hackford's "Ray" is one of the best musical biopics, and its core strength comes not from its appreciation of Ray Charles' music or from its command of Ray's life and times (which are definitive strengths, but are common in biopics). Rather, the key strength of "Ray" is its willingness to show the gigantic flaws that haunted the beloved musical genius.

"Ray" could have easily been a straight rags-to-riches story, where a young boy overcomes racial prejudice, abject poverty, and a little thing called blindness to become one of the world's most famous musicians. After all, who doesn't love Ray Charles? The man with the winning smile, irreverent soul, and the talent to make a Diet Pepsi jingle into a hit song could have easily been the subject of a sugary-sweet, sycophantic film.

"Ray" is not one of those. While Ray Robinson was born into poverty and grew into the role of Ray Charles, musical deity, he did so in spite of what can only be described as colossal selfishness. "Ray" gives us the man who could be a beloved family man and husband when at home, but could be a womanizing heroin addict when "on the road." It's refreshing to see a movie take such an unvarnished stance towards its hero.

Most revealing is Ray's first exposure to heroin. Ray is still a bit player in a two-bit band, his blindness is being exploited (folks are stealing his money by falsely telling him the contract terms), and his bandmates refuse to let him tag along with the ladies because they don't want a blind man to cramp their style. Nevertheless, Ray barges into a bathroom while his mates are shooting up and out of the blue demands, "a taste."

This love of heroin follows Ray for several years. Ray cranks out hit after hit while on the stuff, and the movie really doesn't show Ray suffering from the drug (other than some nervous scratching and a painful stint in rehab). Still, through Ray's wife we hear about the painful toll the drug is taking on his life, and the movie's treatment of the heroin is probably sufficient.

Another strong point of "Ray" is its willingness to show how revolutionary Ray truly was. Virtually any movie set in the 50s and 60s will have a gratuitous scene of uptight white adults being offended by the "new music" - it's like shooting fish in a barrel, and is quite tired. While "Ray" indeed has some of those scenes, "Ray" also reminds us that many in the black community were horrified at Ray's music because he had the gall to tweak gospel music into something "dangerous." And that was the Devil's work. This balance is refreshing.

Any fan of Ray Charles' music will be pleased with the selections from the soundtrack. While anyone could surely come up with some personal favorites that weren't part of the movie, the high points are definitely met. "Ray" brings to light one of the lesser known aspects of Ray Charles' career - he made a country music album while at the height of his career, risked career suicide to do it, and pulled off one of the best country albums ever made. Truly, this man was a genius (although my favorite scene showing Ray's virtuosity is the scene where he apparently improvs his way into "Baby It's Alright").

Much has been made of Jamie Foxx's performance in the title role. He won the Oscar, and deservedly so. In fact, his performance in "Ray" is so solid that his other Oscar-nominated performance of the year, as the cab driver in "Collateral," is easily overshadowed.He won for the right performance.

"Ray" is a must-see movie for fans of American music. The man made so many contributions to American music and overcame so many obstacles, both external and self-inflicted, that it's hard to remember that Ray Charles was a real man, not a fictitious character.

Foxx's Performance Saves the Movie Itself

This mediocre movie was saved by Jamie Foxx's performance.

While Ray Charles lead an absolutely astounding life, full of trials and tribulations, heartbreaks, setbacks, and success, the movie itself wasn't that great. For some reason, it just didn't capture me or draw me in, I was in a dull stupor until the very end. At two hours and thirty minutes, that was a very long dull stupor.

However, I must commend Mr. Foxx and his outstanding performance. He did an excellent job in his Ray Charles mimicry, and really relayed true emotion to the viewer.