RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Ray
Ray

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Ray (2004)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
82 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:190

Fresh:155

Rotten:35

Average Rating:7.3/10

Consensus: Critics can't stop loving Jamie Foxx's performance in Ray, which is being hailed as an engrossing and energetic take on Charles' achievements and demons.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for depiction of drug addiction, sexuality and some thematic elements

Runtime: 2 hrs 33 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:21-01-2005

Synopsis: Ray is the never-before-told, musical biographical drama of American legend Ray Charles. Featuring a remarkable performance from Jamie Foxx in the central role, Ray follows the inspiring story of a... Ray is the never-before-told, musical biographical drama of American legend Ray Charles. Featuring a remarkable performance from Jamie Foxx in the central role, Ray follows the inspiring story of a one-of-a-kind genius. Born in a poor town in Georgia, Ray Charles went blind at the age of seven shortly after witnessing his younger brother's accidental death. Inspired by a fiercely independent mother who insisted he make his own way in the world, Charles found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered incorporating gospel, country, jazz and orchestral influences into his inimitable style. As he revolutionized the way people appreciated music, he simultaneously fought segregation in the very clubs that launched him and championed artists' rights within the corporate music business. Ray provides an unflinching portrait of Charles' musical genius as he overcomes drug addiction while transforming into one of this country's most beloved performers. Ray is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Taylor Hackford (An Officer and a Gentleman); screenplay by James L. White, from a story by Hackford and White; and produced by Hackford, Stuart Benjamin, Howard Baldwin and Karen Baldwin. [More]

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Curtis Armstrong

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Curtis Armstrong, Warwick Davis, Clifton Powell, Harry J. Lennix, Terrence DaShon Howard, Larenz Tate, Aunjanue Ellis

Director: Taylor Hackford

Director: Taylor Hackford
Screenwriter: James White, Taylor Hackford
Producer: Howard L. Baldwin, Karen Baldwin
Composer: Craig Armstrong
Producer: Stuart Benjamin
Studio: Universal Pictures

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • >
    Ray Trailer
    >
1 - 2 of 2

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for Ray

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
11/06/04
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Anchored by Foxx's astonishingly powerful performance, this moving and engaging biographical film ... is also director Hackford's finest film.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
11/07/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

A good film but not a great one.

Full Review Source: FilmFocus | comment Comment
01/24/05
Scott Andrews
Scott Andrews
FilmFocus

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
03/06/05
Independent
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
09/28/06
Sight and Sound
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Director Taylor Hackford hits most of the right notes in exposing both Charles' enormous talents and foibles.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
10/29/04
E! Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
02/13/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Taylor Hackford's biography of Ray Charles is a potent and invigorating portrait of genius, thanks to Jamie Foxx's performance and to the music of Ray Charles himself.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
10/28/04
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Some of the performances of Ray Charles's greatest hits send you right over the void at the center of the movie.

Full Review Source: Blogcritics.org | comment Comment
01/13/05
Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Blogcritics.org

takes facts and mixes them with a healthy dose of poetic license to splendid effect [resulting in] a kaleidoscopic view of Charles’ rise from unimaginable poverty to fame

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
10/27/04
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

Eminently worth seeing.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
11/04/04
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer

In Taylor Hackford's "Ray," Jamie Foxx delivers the season's most mesmerizing performance as late singer Ray Charles.

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
11/02/04
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Movie Gazette | comment Comment
02/14/05
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Movie Gazette

Making a movie about anyone's life requires a director to make choices, and Hackford wasn't trying for a painstaking re-creation. Instead, he chose to focus -- like Charles himself -- on the soul.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
10/28/04
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

But the movie belongs to Foxx, who should garner a best actor Academy Award nomination, if not the statue itself, for his astounding performance.

Full Review Source: Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) | comment Comment
10/28/04
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

Ray does provide a sweet reminder of the power of Charles’s music, and if that’s all the film can really offer, that isn’t such a bad deal after all.

Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com | comment Comment
10/28/04
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
FilmJerk.com

A very good film, regardless of whether or not you love Ray Charles’ music. And even if it was a lesser film, Jamie Foxx’s performance would have made it worth watching.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
02/10/05
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

Ray is a sprawling, and mostly triumphant, tribute to a man whose appetites often were as big as his voice.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
10/28/04
Bruce Newman
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
all

Latest News for Ray

October 07, 2009: Jamie Foxx Plans Mike Tyson Biopic Opens in new window
Does one good biopic deserve another? "Ray" star Jamie Foxx wants to reunite with director Taylor Hackford for a look at the life and times of Mike Tyson. More...

October 15, 2007: Mirren and Pesci Saddling Up at Hackford's Love Ranch
Helen Mirren, Joe Pesci, and Taylor Hackford are headed to the Love Ranch. More...

December 29, 2006: Kasdan, Apatow & John C. Reilly to Introduce "Dewey Cox"
How many musician-centric biopics do you have to sit through before you start clamoring for a nice juicy parody of the sub-genre? Well, one's on it's way, courtesy of director... More...

December 08, 2006: The Weekly Ketchup: "Spider-Man 3" Teasers, "Pirates 3" Pics And Rumors, "Transformers" Images, And More!
In this week's Ketchup, we just can't get enough of those tidbits from the upcoming third installments of "Spider-Man" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" and the... More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
25% 25% Four Christmases
68% 68% Funny People
95% 95% Star Trek
14% 14% The Ugly Truth

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
32% 32% Terminator Salvation
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
86% 86% A Christmas Tale
60% 60% Paper Heart

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Spielberg Hops Away from Harvey Source: Variety
21
  • Tarantino Could Have Directed Green Lantern Source: MTV
24
  • Will Duvall be Gilliam's Don Quixote? Source: Collider.com
26
  • No Hobbit Until 2012? Source: The Wrap
22
  • Don't Hold Your Breath for Hancock 2 Source: HitFix
42
  • Peter Berg Talks Battleship Source: CHUD
2
  • Summit Ponders Twilight Finale Source: Variety
159
  • First Look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Source: USA Today
56
  • Jeremy Renner Talks Hawkeye Possibilities Source: Superhero Hype
14
  • Todd Phillips Talks The Hangover 2 Source: Entertainment Weekly
18
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
69
  • Five Favorite Films with Jason Reitman
48
  • Critics Consensus: Everybody's Fine Is Just OK
48
  • 10 Horrifically Profitable Films
45
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Vampires and Football Break Thanksgiving Records
42
  • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
40
  • Sundance 2010: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
35
  • Weekly Ketchup: Tron Team to Remake The Black Hole
30
  • Awards Tour: National Board of Review Winners List!
26
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Terminator Salvation and a Smithsonian Battle
22
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
22
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Ray at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Ray at IGN
  • Ray at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.