The music and life lessons of American music legend Ray Charles, who died last year at the age of 74, will never seem dated to those who dare to dream big and, above all, go face to face with human frailty.
Bringing the extraordinary life of this soul music pioneer to the screen is director Taylor Hackford. In his movie Ray, Hackford creates a beautiful biopic that not only charts Charles' illustrious music career but also portrays the blind artist's struggles with his childhood traumas and inner demons.
The brilliance of Hackford, who is nominated for best directing in this year's Academy Awards, lies in his ability to condense Charles' long and interesting life into a film less than three hours long without ever losing focus, clarity and humour.
Almost everything you need to know about Charles (Jamie Foxx) - his marriage with Bea (Kerry Washington), his achievements in music, his struggle with drugs and broken relationships with loyal friends such as road manager Jeff Brown (Clifton Powell) - are touched on in the film.
The film also shows the cunning side of the artist. The film opens with a humorous scene in which Charles feigns to be a veteran blinded in the second world war to win sympathy. And there are plenty of similar incidents later on as Charles - having learnt to be a survivor since losing his eyesight at age seven - has the knack of shrewdly using his blindness to help himself succeed in the music business.
The film occasionally flashes back to Charles' poor childhood in Florida. These sequences, especially the scene about the drowning of Charles' brother, serve as explanations for Charles' emotional weakness.
