Blu-rays, DVDs & more
eBay affliate link
Art of the Movies
Buy posters on MoviePoster.com
IMDb
Ray movie stills
Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: It's the kind of movie in which every song or musical breakthrough has a dramatic inspiration drawn from a real-life experience, designed to make us believe a life can be analyzed through its creative expressions and successes. Read more
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: If Ray fails to present a genuine portrait of a complex man's essence, it does leave you with an even greater sense of awe for Charles' accomplishments, both in his personal and public lives. Read more
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Ray is a fit tribute to an entertainer who, no matter what hate or hardship threw in his way or how many mistakes he made, we can't stop loving. Read more
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The movie would be worth seeing simply for the sound of the music and the sight of Jamie Foxx performing it. That it looks deeper and gives us a sense of the man himself is what makes it special. Read more
Paul de Barros, Seattle Times: Enjoy the music -- and Foxx. They're terrific. Read more
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: This is an unflinching but deeply respectful look at one of the seminal musical artists of the 20th century. Read more
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Jamie Foxx is incredible as musical giant Ray Charles. Read more
Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: Making a movie about anyone's life requires a director to make choices, and Hackford wasn't trying for a painstaking re-creation. Instead, he chose to focus -- like Charles himself -- on the soul. Read more
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Foxx is not at fault here -- with Ray, he arrives at the front ranks of American film actors -- but the filmmakers' need to bend biography until it assumes triumphal shape is. Read more
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Ray turns out to be a proudly conventional film that combines an involving true story, irresistible music and a charismatic performance in a way that makes us not only forgive but actually almost relish how standard the presentation is. Read more
Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: What can Ray tell us about such a familiar figure? A Lot. Read more
Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: Hackford has made a film that -- like Charles' music itself -- breaks your heart, makes it brim with joy and ultimately fills it with a deep belief in beauty and salvation. Read more
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Ray is the rare Hollywood biopic that does justice to the heroism, as well as the demons, of an American genius. Read more
Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: Mr. Foxx's performance captures each nuance of character. His portrayal is an exalting tribute to a flawed, fascinating musical icon. Read more
Kim Morgan, L.A. Weekly: Ray is indeed inspirational (how can such a life not be?), but it only occasionally moves beyond uplift and easy sentimentality. Read more
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: Sure, it's the Jamie Foxx breakout role. But the movie around it is so systematically 'inspirational' that it comes perilously close to sabotaging the breakout. Read more
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Foxx's performance is an absolute career-maker, and he's surrounded by fine actors. By amazing music, too. Read more
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: It is in Ray's many music sequences that Hackford's direction is most confident. Read more
Rex Reed, New York Observer: Jamie Foxx's all-encompassing performance in the title role more than justifies the early Oscar gossip it has generated. Read more
A.O. Scott, New York Times: Taylor Hackford's biography of Ray Charles is a potent and invigorating portrait of genius, thanks to Jamie Foxx's performance and to the music of Ray Charles himself. Read more
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: Eminently worth seeing. Read more
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: Foxx helps us to truly understand how much Charles' blindness allows him to achieve, especially when combined with an innate wiliness. Read more
James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Sluggish, conventional, and almost completely lacking in energy. Read more
Charles Taylor, Salon.com: Any viewers who look at Ray and see only cliches are declaring themselves hopelessly lost to the real achievement of this picture, which is nothing less than a statement of faith in the inclusiveness of American culture. Read more
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It takes all of five seconds, tops, to believe that Jamie Foxx is the young Ray Charles. Read more
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Despite a plodding, mechanical approach to dramatizing his life, Ray occasionally hits peaks of energy and delight worthy of his finest songs. Read more
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The music is inspired and the cast terrifically committed, but Ray is still a long way from being a good movie. Read more
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: A sometimes wobbly blend of the ordinary and the amazing, Ray is nevertheless entirely engaging because of a remarkable central performance and a smartly lived-up-to promise. Read more
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: It sings, and it swings. Read more
Mike Clark, USA Today: To any poor soul who thinks Foxx wasn't indispensable to this movie: Hit the road, Jack. Read more
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: Ray is so reflexive that it often seems to be about the procedural mechanics of biopics. Read more
Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Foxx does what he's supposed to. He steals his own show. Read more
Teresa Wiltz, Washington Post: To describe Foxx's performance here is to gush, and so gush we will. Read more