Pros: Jamie Foxx delivers a brilliant performance, fully embodying the celebrated, albeit troubled singer, eyes usually sealed shut, his gait awkward and his singing and piano playing flawless. The film actually details his love life (which is wild), his career and his never-ending drug addiction, with flashbacks to his difficult and tragic childhood. While the screenplay gets a bit metaphysical and some important events are left out (for example, his first albeit brief marriage), it is still solid and as a result, this is one of the best musical biopics I've seen. The supporting performances and overall feel of film are also unforgettable.
Cons: Again, this film leaves out several important events in Charles's life, and doesn't accurately gauge how old he is at the beginning, though the one bus driver easily believes that he's a World War II vet, blinded by the war, when in reality, he was just fourteen when the war ended. And you don't know how the feds or police figure out Charles has drugs on him, and I feel that is something important left out. Also, the film does focus a great deal on his drug addiction, when I felt it should have focused more on the music.
Recommend: Yes
Grade: A-
Side Notes:
-Kerry Washington, Aunjanue Ellis and Regina King star as three of the women in Ray's life with Sharon Warren as his mother, a lowly wash woman who instills a fierce sense of independence in her disabled son.
-Ray is incredibly observant and he needs to be to survive in a cruel world, to both African Americans and people with disabilities.
-Georgia eventually realizes their mistake and allows Ray to perform in that state again, which is certainly a crowing achievement for him. Quite frankly, I'm surprised they came to their sense so quickly (hah! after eighteen years) when some things still have not been resolved.
-It was also surprising to me at how many genres Charles excelled in and the thought that he asked to own his masters, something that is vitally important for artists.
No comments:
Post a Comment