What's So Great About Ray?

I make it a point to see every picture nominated for Best Picture, ideally before the Oscars actually tell me which picture is the superior product. And till this past Saturday night, I had seen four the five contenders: Sideways, Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby and The Aviator. All were excellent in their own ways, though I find myself on the fence between Million Dollar Baby and Sideways. Both are small and affecting movies, though I tend to side more with Sideways for the sheer subtlety of the performances. But I was reserving judgment till I had seen the final nominated movie: Ray.

After sitting through the over 2 hours and 20 minutes of Ray, I was shocked. Shocked that so many people thought this was good enough to be nominated for a best picture Oscar. In a year that saw such movies as Kinsey, Closer, and the truly brilliant Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, how did enough people pick this piece of crap? It wasn't just that the movie wasn't Oscar caliber - so many nominated movies aren't. It was that the movie wasn't even good. And yet, it managed to snatch up a bunch of nods, including best director for Taylor Hackford and the Vegas sure-shot for best actor, Jaime Foxx. I am still shaking my head.

Ray tells the story of Ray Charles from the time he starts out on the road till the time he calls it quits with his heroin addiction. In oddly filmed flashbacks, we see bits of his life right before and right after he lost his eyesight. Part of the major problem I had with the movie was that while Ray Charles's life was interesting, it didn't seem to warrant this epic sort of movie. It is amazing that a blind performer made it so big, but then again look at Beethoven and what he accomplished without being able to hear. He struggled with drugs and infidelity, but then again name me a music superstar who hasn't had a similarly checkered past. He was a black performer in the days of segregation. There were many black performers who worked to break the racial discrimination before, after and during the time that Ray Charles did. Not to belittle his own efforts, but he was not the only one. Overall, the story of Ray Charles's life didn't seem to warrant such monumental treatment.

Taylor Hackford's nomination is a slap in the face to the other talented directors in this year's group. Perhaps the movie might not have seemed as inconsequential had it not been filmed in a manner that I would have normally attributed to a first time director, though more likely to an amateur. Every scene seemed to be repeating something we had just seen: Ray performing in a club, wowing everyone and then while the music continued a montage of some occurrences from his life. This sort of scene occurred ad naseum. There was nothing innovative or exciting about how Mr. Hackford attempted to tell this story and that boredom was all too evident on the screen.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Mr. Foxx's performance in the titular role. It is never easy playing an historical figure, just ask Colin Farrel. However, playing one that was still alive while the movie was filming must have been doubly difficult. And yes, Jaime Foxx does look, sound, and act an awful lot like Ray Charles. He even played the piano instead of using stunt hands. But was he the best actor of the year? Not even close. He gave a good performance but not a great one. Yes the performance did go above a mere imitation of a known musician, but for the most part he was not the most interesting character on screen. His wife and mistresses were far more energetic and riveting. It is almost a done deal that he'll receive the Oscar this year, but how this can happen while Paul Giamatti's beautiful portrayal of a man in the throes of depression, self-doubt and possible redemption was shoved to the side. If they must according to the list of nominees, at least give the Academy Award to Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda or Johnny Depp for Finding Neverland, though he would really be getting it for his spot-on Capitan Jack Sparrow in last year's The Pirates of the Caribbean.

Ray might be the sentimental favorite since we lost the real Mr. Charles this past year. He was an innovative musician and I love a great deal of his songs. I really have no problem honoring him and his musical and life achievements. Perhaps he just deserved a better movie than Ray.