RAY (FILM)

'''Ray''' is a 2004 biopic focusing on thirty years^[2] of the life of legendary 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.

Contents

Production

Plot summary

Cast

Songs used in the film

Awards

Won

Nominations

Differences from noted events

External links

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 how to shoot heroin.
''Ray'' debuted at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival.

Plot summary

Born in Albany, Georgia and raised in St. Augustine, Florida, Ray Charles Robinson went blind at the age of seven, possibly from glaucoma. His blindness began shortly after he watched his younger brother drown, leaving him with feelings of guilt. With the staunch support of his determined single mother, he developed the fierce resolve, wit and incredible talent that would eventually enable him to overcome not only Jim Crow racism and the cruel prejudices against the blind, but also discover his own sound which revolutionized American popular music.
Ray has a lot going against him when he first arrives in Seattle, Washington to play at a seedy club in the late 1940s, encountering adversity wherever he goes. His first manager Marlene Andres and his partner Gossie McKee take advantage of him financially. His second manager Wilbur Brassfield shortchanges him, other people refuse to hang out with him because of his handicap, and he has to be constantly aware of his surroundings. But his music grabs people. He feels the beat every time he sits at the piano, and the house always comes alive, no matter what the size of the venue. Working his way out of juke joints and onto a tour, Ray is advised to drop his last name and just go by Ray Charles and soon his star rises.
Discovered by Atlantic Records producers Ahmet Ertegün and Jerry Wexler, Ray is soon given the freedom to write his own music and a phenomenon is born. Mixing blues with gospel music (but, he jokes, without the "gospel attitude") his place in history is soon set. Along the way he marries Houston singer Della Beatrice Antwine who catches his fancy. But she alone can not satisfy him. Time on the road and the temptations of show business overwhelm Ray, and he is soon keeping a lover in tow: backup singer Margie Hendricks.
As Ray's unprecedented fame grows, so does his weakness for drugs and women, until they threaten to strip away the very things he holds most dear. ''Ray'' is the story of Ray Charles' meteoric rise from humble beginnings, his successful struggle to excel in a sighted world and his eventual defeat of his personal demons.

Cast

★ Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles - As stated in the DVD commentary, the actor does not sing as Ray Charles with exception to covers Charles performs in his earlier years. Kanye West and Ludacris have since both made songs with Jamie Foxx singing as Ray Charles in their songs "Gold Digger" and "Georgia", respectively.

★ Sharon Warren as his mother, Aretha Robinson

★ Kerry Washington as his wife, Della Bea Robinson

★ Regina King as Margie Hendricks

★ Larenz Tate as Quincy Jones

★ Harry Lennix as Joe Adams

★ Clifton Powell as Jeff Brown

★ Curtis Armstrong as Ahmet Ertegün

★ Richard Schiff as Jerry Wexler

★ Patrick Bauchau as Dr. Hacker

★ Terrence Dashon 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

Songs used in the film

★ "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand"

★ "Mess Around"

★ "I Got a Woman"

★ "Hallelujah, I Love Her So"

★ "Drown in My Own Tears"

★ "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)"

★ "Bacon Deserves More Attention"

★ "King of the Night Time World"

★ "Everytime I Have the Blues"

Awards

Jamie Foxx was nominated for Best Actor for this film and Best Supporting Actor for ''Collateral''. He is the second actor to have been nominated in both categories in the same year, after Al Pacino. Like Pacino, he won the former, but not the latter.

Won

★ '77th Academy Awards:'

★
★ Best Actor (Jamie Foxx)

★
★ Best Sound (Scott Millan, Greg Orloff, Bob Beemer and Steve Cantamessa)

★ American Cinema Editors: Best Edited Feature Film - Comedy or Musical (Paul Hirsch)

★ '58th BAFTA Awards:'

★
★ Best Actor (Jamie Foxx)

★
★ Best Sound (Scott Millan, Greg Orloff, Bob Beemer and Steve Cantamessa)

★ Black Reel Awards: Best Film - Drama, Best Actor - Drama (Jamie Foxx), Best Supporting Actress (Sharon Warren), Best Breakthrough Performance (Sharon Warren), Best Screenplay (James L. White), Best Original Score (Ray Charles and Stephen Altman)

★ Boston Society of Film Critics: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx), Best Supporting Actress (Sharon Warren)

★ Broadcast Film Critics Association: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx), Best Soundtrack

★ Florida Film Critics Circle: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx)

★ '62nd Golden Globe Awards:'

★
★ Best Actor - Comedy or Musical (Jamie Foxx)

★ 'Grammy Awards:'

★
★ Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media (Ray Charles)

★
★ Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media (Craig Armstrong)

★ Image Awards: Outstanding Motion Picture, Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture (Jamie Foxx), Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture (Kerry Washington), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Regina King)

★ Kansas City Film Critics Circle: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx)

★ Las Vegas Film Critics Society: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx)

★ London Film Critics Circle: Actor of the Year (Jamie Foxx)

★ Motion Picture Sound Editors: Best Sound Editing in Feature Film - Music - Musical (Curt Sobel [music editor])

★ National Board of Review: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx)

★ National Society of Film Critics: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx)

★ Online Film Critics Society: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx), Best Supporting Actress (Sharon Warren)

★ Phoenix Film Critics Society: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx), Best Use of Previously Published or Recorded Music

★ PRISM Awards: Performance in a Feature Film (Jamie Foxx)

★ Satellite Awards: Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical (Jamie Foxx), Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Comedy or Musical (Regina King), Best Screenplay - Original (James L. White)

★ Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Jamie Foxx)

★ Seattle Film Critics: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx)

★ Southeastern Film Critics Association: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx)

★ Vancouver Film Critics Circle: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx)

Nominations

★ '77th Academy Awards:'

★
★ Best Picture

★
★ Best Director (Taylor Hackford)

★
★ Best Editing (Paul Hirsch)

★
★ Best Costume Design (Sharen Davis)

★ American Society of Cinematographers: Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases (Paweł Edelman)

★ '58th BAFTA Awards:'

★
★ Best Screenplay - Original (James L. White)

★
★ Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music (Craig Armstrong)

★ Black Reel Awards: Best Actress - Drama (Regina King), Best Actress - Drama (Kerry Washington), Best Supporting Actor (Clifton Powell), Best Breakthrough Performance (C.J. Sanders)

★ Broadcast Film Critics Association: Best Picture , Best Director (Taylor Hackford)

★ Casting Society of America: Best Feature Film Casting - Drama (Nancy Klopper and Mark Fincannon [location casting])

★ Cinema Audio Society: Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures (Steve Cantamessa, Scott Millan, Greg Orloff and Bob Beemer)

★ Costume Designers Guild: Excellence in Costume Design for Film - Period/Fantasy (Sharen Davis)

★ David di Donatello Awards (Italy): Best Foreign Film

★ Directors Guild of America: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (Taylor Hackford)

★ '62nd Golden Globe Awards:'

★
★ Best Picture - Comedy or Musical

★ Golden Trailer Awards: Best Drama

★ Image Awards: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Clifton Powell), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (C.J. Sanders), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Sharon Warren)

★ MTV Movie Awards: Best Movie, Best Male Performance (Jamie Foxx)

★ Motion Picture Sound Editors: Best Sound Editing in Domestic Features - Dialogue & ADR

★ Online Film Critics Society: Best Actor (Jamie Foxx), Best Supporting Actress (Sharon Warren)

★ Satellite Awards: Best Picture - Comedy or Musical, Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical (Kerry Washington), Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Comedy or Musical (Sharon Warren), Best Director (Taylor Hackfor)

★ Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (Aunjanue Ellis, Jamie Foxx, Terrence Howard, Regina King, Harry J. Lennix, Clifton Powell, Larenz Tate, Kerry Washington)

★ Teen Choice Awards: Choice Movie Actor - Drama (Jamie Foxx), Choice Movie Actress - Drama (Kerry Washington)

★ Young Artist Awards: Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor (C.J. Sanders)

Differences from noted events

As noted in the film's final credits, ''Ray'' is based on true events, but include 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. In his autobiography, Ray remembers trying to pull his brother out of the tub after realizing he was drowning but was unable to save him.

★ In the film, Ray Charles is banned in the state of Georgia for not playing at Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia; he refused to play in protest against segregated seating required by Jim Crow laws. In reality, Ray refused to play there after receiving a telegram from angry black college youth who begged him not to do so; Charles ended up having to pay compensation.

★ In the last scene, which is at the Georgia State Capitol in 1979, a representative declares that "Georgia on My Mind" is Georgia's official state song and also makes a "public apology" for "banning" Charles. As already noted, no such ban occurred.

★ In the studio scene where Ray is taught the "Mess Around," he is told it's in the "Key of G." The "Mess Around" is actually in the key of E flat.

External links

★ Ray Official website

★

★ 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

★ Background on the song Hit The Road Jack