This is one of the best movies I have seen in years. I took me to a new time and place. It was as though I was right there with Ray through his many trials and triumphs.

If someone had nudged me about 15 minutes into ‘Ray’ and asked what I thought of Jamie Foxx in the title role, it would have been time for a blank stare. After all, what is this (fictitious) person talking’ about? That wasn’t Jamie Foxx up on the big screen. That was Ray Charles. This is one of the best performances by anybody in recent years. Like the soundtrack, Jamie as Ray is flat-out brilliant.

The blind Genius of Soul (who took a revolutionary step of mixing gospel with R&B) died during production.

Kerry Washington and Regina King play the main women in Ray’s life, one his wife and the other his longtime mistress. Both actresses match Foxx stride for stride. What takes him to a different level, though, is his deep understanding and uncanny impersonation of the great musician. The entire cast is effective, especially Sharon Warren as his headstrong mother and Curtis Armstrong as a music exec.

I was not a Ray Charles aficionado before ‘Ray’. Apparently, the film has left out a lot, but this picture functions as both an old-fashioned crowd pleaser AND a dark investigation of a brilliant/troubled man.