I wanted to make a discussion for this. I thought the movie was good but not great.

The acting, especially by Jamie Foxx, was amazing. All of the musical performance scenes were also excellent as well as a few other scenes such as the ones when he was a little kid.

However, the movie was way to long. It was the same kind of thing that repeated again and again. It should have been like 30 minutes shorter. Although a few scenes were very emotional and almost made me cry, the movie didn't leave me with any feeling of happiness, sadness or anything.

Overall, I'd reccomend it especially for people who want to learn about the life of Ray Charles or people who want to hear the music.

I saw Ray yesterday. I enjoyed it and think it's well worth seeing, but as is often the case with biopics it's success is mostly in the hands of its lead. Jamie Foxx was superb much as Angela Bassett was several years ago in What's Love Got to Do With It?, which elevates it above a good episode of A&E's Biography. On the whole, though, I thnk biopics tend to be most successful when they are heavily fictionalized as was the case with Milos Forman's Amadeus. When they stick closely to the reality of the individual's life as Ray does, the the result is good and even compelling, but not necessarily great cinema.

As an enormous fan of the glory years of Atlantic Records, I particularly liked the performances of Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler from Curtis Armstrong and Richard Schiff respectively. I would also hope that Pawel Edelman is singled out for praise for his cinematography, which gave the film a beautiful, period look.

Now Playing: NPR's Weekend Edition

It's interesting that you two felt the way you did because I just came back from this three hour movie and was in awe of the time that lapsed--I didnt notice it at all. I think this movie was mesmerizing. If it doesnt sweep the Oscars the Academy has lost its integrity!

I just went to see this movie a few days ago. I couldn't believe how good Jamie Foxx was! I had heard good reviews, but he was totally believable. I didn't know much about Ray Charles except for the obvious, but I def. thought it was interesting. You're totally right - the movie was WAY, WAY too long. If they had cut about an hour out, it would have been perfect. There was a point, when I was like, ok, we get it, he was a womanizer and a drug addict, we don't need to see the same thing over and over. I would recommend it though. Some of the other characters weren't that well developed - like his wife and some of the other women, but overall very good.