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Talk about an unenviable task. Director Taylor Hackford (“Proof of Life”) must have approached this film with equal parts euphoria and trepidation. The challenge: Take one of last century’s most visible and identifiable musical icons and tell the stories of his music, his rise up in the industry, his family, his disability and his childhood. Oh, and tell it all in just over two hours. “Ray” is not a great movie, but I can’t quite think of another way it could have been done. Hackford relies far too much on flashbacks to Ray Charles’ (Jamie Foxx) childhood to convey his psychological trauma, and too often claims that music emerged purely from the drama of his life – such as when a woman walking out on him starts singing “Hit the Road Jack” – to segue from personal pain to public persona. But the movie is firmly buoyed in Foxx’s pitch-perfect performance, which seems all but certain to win him an Oscar, and in the genuine drama of Charles’ life, from going blind after seeing his brother drown to producing some the most memorable, exciting and heartfelt music ever made. It will make you want to buy the soundtrack and approach the man’s work with a new appreciation. I am distressed, however, that "Ray" is being mistaken for one of the year's best films. "Best," to me, implies something that creates a personal connection and takes you someplace deepr. And the more I return to "Ray," the more I realize how that is missing from this biopic. Here, we get snippets of a life, interspersed with performances. We are getting a "best-of" overview, and hardly a story such as "Aviator," which is about the complexities within a person and how they interacted with the world. This is a fun surface diversion, but not a deep work of brilliance. And while Foxx will walk away with gold Oscar night, I truly hope that's the only lasting mark this film makes. 
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