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Ray (2004) Rank 4 Reviews

Expert Review Summary
Movie critics combined give Ray (2004) a score of 3.1444 out of 4
based on (103) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Excellent
4
Excellent
(43)
Very Good
3
Very Good
(45)
Good
2
Good
(15)
Fair
1
Fair
(0)
Poor
0
Poor
(0)
Reviews by Score:
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
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 the complete Ray movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Palo Alto Online (Tyler Hanley)Palo Alto Online (Tyler Hanley)
Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles and Kerry Washington as Della Charles in RaySo you remember watching Jamie Foxx as Wanda -- a sex-crazed blonde with the face of a mule -- on TV's In Living Color and say to yourself: This is the last person on the planet who ...read the complete Ray movie review at Palo Alto Online (Tyler Hanley)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Tail Slate (Michael Sheridan)Tail Slate (Michael Sheridan)
I wasn't sure what I'd think of Ray before watching it. I'd heard all the hype about Jamie Foxx' performance, but sometimes the hype is far from the reality. ...read the complete Ray movie review at Tail Slate (Michael Sheridan)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Empire Movies (Erin Cullin)Empire Movies (Erin Cullin)
Ray is a movie that I will recommend without hesitation. This is a movie that will establish Jamie Foxx as an A-List actor (now let's hope that he continues to make movies like Ray and Collateral). But, more importantly, this is a movie that ...read the complete Ray movie review at Empire Movies (Erin Cullin)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Mark Reviews Movies (Mark Dujsik)Mark Reviews Movies (Mark Dujsik)
Review by Mark Dujsik Propelled by the life, times, and music of the late, great Ray Charles and a virtuoso performance by Jamie Foxx, Taylor Hackford's Ray emerges as an honest and loving tribute to one of the few, true legends of modern music.  ...read the complete Ray movie review at Mark Reviews Movies (Mark Dujsik)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for (Tony Medley)(Tony Medley)
Now Ray joins that select group as one of the best musical biographies. What I most liked about it wasn't the music, which is terrific, or the acting, which is exceptional, or the directing (Taylor Hackford), which is superb. ...read the complete Ray movie review at (Tony Medley)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for RopeofSilicon (Brad Brevet)RopeofSilicon (Brad Brevet)
Just seeing the trailers for Ray you know this is something special, but just how special it is will not be realized until you get the chance to see it for yourself. I honestly can't think of a better transformation made by an actor for a role in a ...read the complete Ray movie review at RopeofSilicon (Brad Brevet)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Empire Movies (Liam Cullin)Empire Movies (Liam Cullin)
Overall, it's hard not to recommend this movie. The music of Ray Charles is one thing, but you don't really know anything about the man until you've come to understand his remarkable life - and this movie is an exceptional tribute. ...read the complete Ray movie review at Empire Movies (Liam Cullin)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for The King's Room (Clyde Ayles)The King's Room (Clyde Ayles)
...read the complete Ray movie review at The King's Room (Clyde Ayles)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for The Cinema Source (Alexis Tuminello)The Cinema Source (Alexis Tuminello)
When Ray was released in theaters I had absolutely no desire what-so-ever to see it. I mean, what could be so exciting about Ray Charles' life? Don't get me wrong, I like his music and thought Jaime Foxx was incredible in Any Given Sunday, but there's ...read the complete Ray movie review at The Cinema Source (Alexis Tuminello)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)
An extraordinary piece of biography. ...read the complete Ray movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer (William Arnold)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
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 the complete Ray movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Salon.com (Charles Taylor)Salon.com (Charles Taylor)
What Ray does right, combined with its generosity of spirit, makes it the most satisfying American movie of the year. ...read the complete Ray movie review at Salon.com (Charles Taylor)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for IMDB.comIMDB.com
I could go on about Ray Charles' genius for business, for feeling the music, and for living life as independently and fiercely as he did. The movie does a much better job doing that; I am going to focus on what an amazing job Jamie Foxx did in this role. ...read the complete Ray movie review at IMDB.com
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for The Cinema Source (Paul Maniaci)The Cinema Source (Paul Maniaci)
Ray Charles lived a Technicolor existence of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, which translates cinematically in Ray. ...read the complete Ray movie review at The Cinema Source (Paul Maniaci)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for IMDB.comIMDB.com
Driven by a family tragedy, and his blindness at age seven, Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx) becomes a living example of how a jubilant thing known as the human spirit can make anyone overcome their limitations, both physically and emotionally. Due to the love ...read the complete Ray movie review at IMDB.com
Ray (2004) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Movie Habit (Matt Anderson)Movie Habit (Matt Anderson)
At the film's conclusion, clips of the real life Ray Charles flash on the screen and, after seeing what the man went through, it's the stuff of goose bumps to see him stand triumphant. Ray is a fitting tribute to an icon who has inspired some of ...read the complete Ray movie review at Movie Habit (Matt Anderson)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Ultimately, it's the music that keeps me drawn into the film, followed closely by Jamie Foxx's soulful (in both senses of the word) performance. The time periods are recreated vividly, the direction is smooth, the film works. Now I think about Ray ...read the complete Ray movie review at The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)
An extraordinary actor plays an extraordinary person in "Ray," the life of a brilliant musician and performer who triumphed over poverty, blindness, and racism through talent, passion, and courage. ...read the complete Ray movie review at The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for About.com Hollywood Movies (Rebecca Murray)About.com Hollywood Movies (Rebecca Murray)
An Unflinching Look at an American Legend"Ray" has been labeled the best movie of the year and the movie to beat at the Oscars. And those are just a couple of the many titles slapped on the film months before its theatrical release. ...read the complete Ray movie review at About.com Hollywood Movies (Rebecca Murray)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
Ray boasts great music, an Oscar-worthy lead performance, an impressive supporting cast, and an ambitious script. While it sorely abbreviates the details of Ray's lamentable track record with relationships, it at least admits his faults while dazzling ...read the complete Ray movie review at Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.64 out of 4 stars for Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
As a musical biography, Ray is driven by the primal excitement of rock-and-soul at the moment of its discovery. ...read the complete Ray movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Time (Richard Corliss)Time (Richard Corliss)
If there were an Oscar for ensemble acting, Ray would win in a stroll. ...read the complete Ray movie review at Time (Richard Corliss)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Jamie Foxx gets so far inside the man and his music that he and Ray Charles seem to breathe as one. ...read the complete Ray movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
Every once in a while, a performance pops out of a Hollywood movie that is so brilliant and unique to the matching of actor to role that it's impossible to imagine anyone else achieving it. ...read the complete Ray movie review at New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for USA Today (Mike Clark)USA Today (Mike Clark)
Ray could not have been made without star Jamie Foxx. ...read the complete Ray movie review at USA Today (Mike Clark)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for New York Post (Lou Lumenick)New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
Contains large helpings of Hollywood schmaltz, stereotype and clich‚, but it's also pretty impossible to resist. ...read the complete Ray movie review at New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
Brilliantly embodied by Jamie Foxx in this unflinching, entertaining biography. ...read the complete Ray movie review at Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for IMDB.comIMDB.com
It has taken director Taylor Hackford 15 years to fulfill his dream of making a film about the life of Charles. And the wait was worth it.For if ever an actor and subject coalesced into one being, it is Jamie Foxx, He does more than impersonate Charles ...read the complete Ray movie review at IMDB.com
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for (Peter Sobczynski)(Peter Sobczynski)
After a couple of reels, however, it shifts to a more conventional narrative and the old problems surface-too much to cover and too little time. ...read the complete Ray movie review at (Peter Sobczynski)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for IMDB.comIMDB.com
And wasn't Ray Charles the pitchman for Pepsi cola? Uh huh! But for those of us too young to know the real Ray Charles when he was raw and maturing, the film is a loving look back at how he overcame a hardscrabble upbringing. It looks at how he ...read the complete Ray movie review at IMDB.com
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Movieman's Guide to the Movies (Kushmeer Farakhan)Movieman's Guide to the Movies (Kushmeer Farakhan)
Note: This is a review of the test screening. For the uninitiated, Unchain My Heart (now called simply Ray -- July 5th, 2004) is in a nutshell, a biography about Ray Charles, one of the greatest R and B/Jazz singers of the 20th Century. He's played by ...read the complete Ray movie review at Movieman's Guide to the Movies (Kushmeer Farakhan)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Empire Magazine [UK]Empire Magazine [UK]
Foxx's performance is nothing short of amazing, and Hackford's film overall does fine justice to Charles' musical legend and legacy. ...read the complete Ray movie review at Empire Magazine [UK]
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Killer Movie Reviews (Andrea Chase)Killer Movie Reviews (Andrea Chase)
Click here to listen to the interview with Taylor Hackford. Taylor Hackford's RAY does what the best of biopics should do, tell not just who someone is, or what someone has done, but the why behind it all, in this case Ray Charles. Based on his decades ...read the complete Ray movie review at Killer Movie Reviews (Andrea Chase)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for ShowBIZ DataShowBIZ Data
There's hardly a review of director Taylor Hackford's Ray Charles bio Ray that doesn't mention that it is certain to bring Jamie Foxx, who stars in the title role, an Oscar nomination and probably the best actor award. The film itself receives mixed ...read the complete Ray movie review at ShowBIZ Data
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
Ask anyone for an opinion of " Ray," Taylor Hackford's biopic of musical pioneer Ray Charles, and you're likely to hear only two words: Jamie Foxx. Flirting with serious acting since his turn as a footballer in Oliver Stone's bombastic "Any Given ...read the complete Ray movie review at Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Impressively directed, enjoyable biopic with terrific music sequences and an Oscar-worthy central performance by Jamie Foxx that more than justifies its lengthy running time.According to the press notes, it has taken director Taylor Hackford 16 years to ...read the complete Ray movie review at ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for The Movie Insider (Jack Moore)The Movie Insider (Jack Moore)
Hackford's film loses steam within its last fifteen minutes or so (an obscure dream sequence during the final moments are particularly anticlimactic), but because Ray runs such a difficult marathon for so long, we can forgive his exhaustion toward the ...read the complete Ray movie review at The Movie Insider (Jack Moore)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Three Movie Buffs (Patrick Nash)Three Movie Buffs (Patrick Nash)
My one minor complaint is that Ray is perhaps twenty minutes too long. Trimming a few scenes could have made this good movie even better. As is Ray is one of the best and most satisfying film biographies to come out of Hollywood in many years. ...read the complete Ray movie review at Three Movie Buffs (Patrick Nash)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for The Movie ChicksThe Movie Chicks
When you make a movie about a legend, you can either gloss over the flaws and make him into a saint or do justice to the man's greatness and still allow him to be human. Ray opts to show the unvarnished truth about the great Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx). ...read the complete Ray movie review at The Movie Chicks
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for DVDActive (Casimir Harlow)DVDActive (Casimir Harlow)
Ray is a thoughtful, involving movie that suffers only slightly from being somewhat familiar in its storytelling. Despite this, the performances win your heart, centred on Jamie Foxx who truly deserves his awards for this role. Presentation-wise the ...read the complete Ray movie review at DVDActive (Casimir Harlow)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
A great piece of acting can knock the hell out of tainted preconceptions. Or, in the case of Ray, director Taylor Hackford's electrifying take on the joyous art and pained soul of Ray Charles, it can move a film from the shoals of biopic banality to the ...read the complete Ray movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Ray (2004) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)
The most interesting cues in Ray, however, are the three dream sequence cues (during which Charles' dreams of making it big) scored with the kind of deep rock and jazz flavour you would expect Charles to create for his own personal ...read the complete Ray movie review at Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)
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Movie Reviews: Biography
Ray (2004) Reviews
Ray (2004)

RANKINGS:

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Ratings and rankings are based on number of movie, review scores, awards & other criteria.
Overall Rating:
3.1774
Ray (2004) is ranked overall as out of 4 stars
Avg Critic Score:
3.1444
Ray (2004) is ranked overall as out of 4 stars
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