Ray DVD Review (Jamie Foxx) Empire Movies

RAY DVD REVIEW

Ray
(Universal Studios Home Entertainment)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

9/10

Liam

I had the fortune of seeing Ray for the first time last year at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was a gala screening with pretty much everyone in attendance including director Taylor Hackford and stars Jamie Foxx, Regina King and Larenz Tate, just to name a very few. And the movie was good. The only thing that took away from the evening? That Ray Charles had died a few months earlier. I couldn't help but think throughout the movie how much better it would have been had he been in attendance.

The movie tells the story of Ray Charles, a man who had everything going against him, but who overcame all the odds to become one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. First off, he lost his sight as a child. Second, he was treated differently because he was black. And lastly, what the film deals most with, is the inner demons Ray Charles faced. The drugs and the addictions. Yet he overcame it all. The movie is, to say the very least, a tribute to the man's strength against insurmountable odds.

It's only right that the movie has been hailed as one of the best films of 2004 and that Jamie Foxx is gathering the accolades for his career-making performance. I've never been one to take Jamie Foxx too seriously, as before 2004, the guy didn't have the most polished resume. But there's no doubt now that this guy deserves whatever he gets for this role. Very nicely done.

Just a few weeks before we'll find out if Jamie Foxx will get that coveted Best Actor Academy Award, Ray is now available on DVD. Loaded with special features, we get an even more in-depth look at the making of the movie, and at the life of Ray Charles.

On disc one, there's the option of watching the theatrical cut or an extended version featuring an additional 25 minutes of never-before-seen footage. If you've got the extra time, it's worth it to watch the extended version. There's some great material that really adds to the story. On the first disc, there's also the option of watching with an audio commentary by director Taylor Hackford. Unfortunately, this audio track is only available on the theatrical version. More unfortunately, Hackford spends a little too much time going over how he added scenes that we can see by watching the extended cut. Strange. However, that's not all he talks about. The gems here are where he speaks of actual conversations he had with Ray Charles while developing the story. Also, where he separates the fact from the fiction, telling how he changed parts of the story from what really happened so that they'd work theatrically.

The remaining special features can be found on disc two. Here, you'll find 14 deleted scenes (running just under 30 minutes) with optional commentary by Hackford. These are scenes that didn't even make the extended cut. Like the extended version, these scenes serve to further develop the character and the story, but it's easy to see why most were cut from the final product. Next, two extended musical scenes give you longer cuts of two songs from the movie.

The next, and probably best feature, titled "Stepping Into the Part" focuses on Jamie Foxx's portrayal. Here, we see actual footage of Foxx sitting down and playing piano with Ray Charles. For those that don't know, Foxx went to college on a classical piano scholarship so, while he'll never be Ray Charles, he did come to the part with experience and to see the two work together is incredible. The feature goes further looking at how Foxx studied the character, how he was blind (with the help of makeup) for 12-14 hours per day to help him get into the role.

In "Ray Remembered" we get testimonials from people who knew Ray including Foxx, Hackford and Quincy Jones about his talent, his originality, his genius and how much he'll be missed. A beautiful tribute.

A Look Inside Ray is your standard promotional making-of featurette with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew about bringing the movie to the big screen.

Finally, the disc features the film's theatrical trailer plus previews for Cinderella Man starring Russell Crowe, Friday Night Lights, The Motorcycle Diaries and Vanity Fair.

Overall, it's hard not to recommend this movie. The music of Ray Charles is one thing, but you don't really know anything about the man until you've come to understand his remarkable life - and this movie is an exceptional tribute.

Features
Feature Commentary with Director Taylor Hackford, Deleted Scenes, Extended Musical Scenes, Stepping into the Part, Ray Remembered, A Look Inside Ray, Theatrical Trailer, Cast and Filmmakers

Video
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

Subtitles
French, Spanish, Closed-Captioned

Release Date
February 1, 2005

Rating
PG-13

Length
153 mins.

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