Ray

We are going through a phase of biops at the moment...Ray is the biop

of the legendary artist Ray Charles.

Ray Charles has the distinction of being both a national treasure and

an international phenomenon. By the early 1960's Ray Charles had

accomplished his dream. He'd come of age musically. He'd made it to Carnegie

Hall. The hit records "Georgia" and "Born to Lose" successively kept

climbing to the top of the charts. He'd made his first triumphant European

concert tour in 1960 (a feat which, except for 1965, he repeated at least

once a year ever since). He had taken virtually every form of popular

music and broken through its boundaries with such awe inspiring

achievements as the LP's "Genius Plus Soul Equals Jazz" and "Modern Sounds in

Country & Western". Rhythm & blues became universally respectable

through his efforts. Jazz found a mainstream audience it had never previously

enjoyed, and country & western music began to chart an unexpected

course to general acceptance, then worldwide popularity. And along the way

Ray Charles was instrumental in the invention of rock & roll. Jamie Foxx

(Any Given Sunday, Ali) is Ray Charles in this high-energy portrait of

an exceptional man who has become an American icon. Born in a poor

African American town in central Florida, Ray Charles went blind at the age

of 7. With the staunch support of his determined single mother, he

developed the fierce resolve, wit and incredible talent that would

eventually enable him to overcome not only Jim Crow Racism and the cruel

prejudices against the blind, but also discover his own sound which

revolutionized American popular music. Nonetheless, as Ray's unprecedented fame

grew, so did his weakness for drugs and women, until they threatened to

strip away the very things he held most dear. This little known story

of Ray Charles' meteoric rise from humble beginnings, his successful

struggle to excel in a sighted world and his eventual defeat of his own

personal demons make for an inspiring and unforgettable true story of

human triumph.

If you like his music but don't know the man, then come see this film.

You may be surprised at his life. Jamie Foxx (from Collateral) is good

as Ray and the supporting cast help this to be a good film. If you

don't know his music, shame on you! Come watch a film about a guy

overcoming adversity in fulfilment of his dreams.

Either way, if you come see this film you'll never shake a lady's

hand the same way again!!