if someone have nudge me about 15 minute into ray and ask what i thought of jamie foxx in the title role and it would have be time for a blank stare . after all and what be this ( fictitious ) person talk about . that wasn not jamie foxx up on the big screen . that be ray charles . this be one of the best performance by anybody in recent year . like the soundtrack and jamie a ray be flat out brilliant . the blind genius of soul ( who take a revolutionary step of mix gospel with r and b ) die during production . the movie about his troubled life be good and not great . taylor hackford direction and james l. white script follow the well worn biopic outline . super talented youngster battle adversity and achieves greatness while also self destructing and then pick himself up out of the gutter for a happy end . the film show charles flaw ( heroin abuse and chronic womanizing and persistent bastard fathering ) even a it suck you in with his beautiful music . kerry washington and regina king play the main woman in ray life and one his long suffering wife and the other his longtime mistress . both actress match foxx stride for stride . what take him to a different level and though and be his deep understanding and uncanny impersonation of the great musician . the entire cast be effective and especially sharon warren a his headstrong mother and curtis armstrong a a music exec . hackford star be likely to be reward with trophy and good yet more starring role . i be not a ray charles aficionado before ray . apparently and the film have leave out a lot ( a do all biopics ) and but this picture function a both an old fashion crowd pleaser and a dark investigation of a brilliant or troubled man . for those who whine that foxx doesn not actually sing ( a if that somehow diminish his performance ) and take a hike . no mere actor can sing like mr. charles anyway . you can not have everything . what the talented star do in this picture be about as close to everything a we will probably see for a while .