Even a blind man can see film's worth

Ladies and gentlemen, Jamie Foxx has officially arrived as a dramatic actor. After flirting with the title these past few years in films such as "Any Given Sunday," "Ali" and "Collateral," Foxx has given his most fully-realized performance to date as Ray Charles in the late music great's biopic, "Ray." Foxx's work is the stuff Oscars are made of. Think of it: the star of "Booty Call" receiving a golden boy. Who'd have thunk it? Not me. Not until now.\nDirector/co-writer Taylor Hackford takes on Charles' life from childhood up until 1970, when he kicked his 20-year heroin addiction. From witnessing the senseless drowning of his brother in a wash tub at age five to going blind as a result of glaucoma two years later, Charles' early life was marked by tragedy. Soon thereafter, Charles was admitted to a school for the blind- separating him from his loving though, not coddling- mother, Aretha (an exemplary Sharon Warren).\nThe movie picks up sometime later, depicting Charles' early start with a Florida country band, his subsequent stint in Seattle playing ill-paying gigs and hanging out with an adolescent Quincy Jones (Larenz Tate) and a pot-smoking dwarf emcee (Warwick Davis aka "Willow," and it's hilarious watching him toke). \nLater, he gets the attention of Atlantic Records head Ahmet Ertegun (Curtis Armstrong -- yes, Booger from "Revenge of the Nerds"), signs a solo deal and marries the infinitely patient and all-together God-loving Della Bea (a fine Kerry Washington). \n"Ray" is cool in that it doesn't portray Charles as a saint, but a man whose childhood ghosts pervade his adult life. He cheats on his loving wife numerous times with back-up singers Mary Ann Fisher (Aunjanue Ellis) and Margie Hendricks (the electric Regina King), has children out of wedlock (more than the movie has time to tackle) and does a slew of drugs. It's Foxx, who doesn't so much do a Charles impression but rather inhabit the man, that lends these despicable actions some sort of humanity.\nHackford seems an odd choice to direct this picture, what with having directing schlock along the lines of "Proof of Life." Then again, he also made the Chuck Berry documentary "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll," and appears to be passionate about the subject matter. This enthusiasm finds its way onto the screen. \nDespite being two-and-a-half hours long, the film doesn't lag and gives real insight into Charles' life. The music, which includes Charles' classics "I Got a Woman," "What'd I Say," "Georgia on My Mind," "Hit the Road Jack," "Unchain My Heart" and "You Don't Know Me," as well as the cinematography by Roman Polanski's current lenser, Pawel Edelman, are top-notch. Add these elements atop Foxx's masterful performance and you've got one of the better docu-dramas of recent memory.