Ray

This biopic might have a couple of storytelling flaws, but Jamie Foxx is incredible as Ray Charles. He captures his physical mannerisms, including that tremendous smile, the constant swaying and especially the keyboard playing. (Foxx himself is an accomplished musician.) Recordings—old and new—from Charles himself (who cooperated with director Taylor Hackford until his death last June) substitute for Foxx’s voice, who does an excellent job with the lip synch. While the film is more than two-and-a-half hours long, it could’ve been a little longer. It’s a shame that it skips from somewhere around 1965 (after Charles kicks a near-20 year heroin addiction) to ’79 and then ends. The 14-year skip feels abrupt for a film that has taken plenty of time in telling its story. These glitches keep the film from being a great biopic along the lines of Malcolm X.