"Ray" DVD

Pros

• Movie contains an astounding performance by Jamie Foxx in the role of Ray Charles
• Film features many Ray Charles songs and does a good job tracing his music career
• Movie shows both positive and negative aspects of Ray Charles' life

Cons

• I wanted to hear at least a few songs at length, but film limits nearly all to brief excerpts
• Movie is choppy and has so many short scenes that I felt it undercut emotionality
• Film has some powerful scenes, but others felt to me like something on TV

Description

• Two-disc DVD set containing biopic "Ray" (2004) about legendary musical entertainer Ray Charles
• Movie nominated for 6 Oscars, including Best Picture, and Jamie Foxx won for Best Actor
• DVD contains both theatrical version of film and an extended version that is 25 minutes longer
• DVD provides feature-length commentary by Oscar-nominated director Taylor Hackford
• DVD has uncut versions of 2 of film's musical performances, one of which is "Hit the Road, Jack"
• DVD provides 10-minute featurette about Jamie Foxx getting into the role of Ray Charles
• DVD has 14 deleted scenes plus two additional short (3 to 4 minutes) featurettes
• MPAA Rating: PG-13 for depiction of drug addiction, sexuality and some thematic elements
• Feature run time: 2 hours 32 minutes (theatrical version), 2 hours 58 minutes (extended version)
• DVD release date: February 1, 2005

Guide Review - "Ray" DVD

Nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and winner for Best Actor (Jamie Foxx), "Ray," the biopic about Ray Charles, has been a hit both with critics and at the box office. On DVD, "Ray" is a two-disc set, where Disc 1 has not only the theatrical version of the movie, but also contains an extended version that is more than 25 minutes longer.

"Ray" seems to me rather conventional as biopics go, but I found the film's depiction of Ray Charles' life interesting, and I enjoy his music a lot. Although I would say the movie is uneven, I think it's worth seeing because of the uncanny way actor Jamie Foxx captures the legendary musical performer.

I wanted to hear at least a few songs at length, but the film limits nearly all of Charles' great music to brief excerpts. Also, the movie seemed to me choppy, and it has so many short scenes that I felt it undercut emotionality. Nevertheless, I found the way "Ray" traces Charles' career interesting, and it also chronicles his extramarital affairs with two of his singers and his heroin addiction.

The DVD version of "Ray" is a two-disc set that provides a number of special features, including an audio commentary by director Taylor Hackford. Disc 2 contains 14 deleted scenes, which supply the additional material for the extended version of the film on Disc 1. Also on Disc 2 are a few other bonus materials as described above under the heading "Description."