Jamie Foxx shines as 'Ray'

Here's the lesson to be learned from "Ray": great performances alone don't necessarily make great movies.\nIn fact, I can't imagine where "Ray," Taylor Hackford's Oscar-nominated biopic of the late rock and soul singer Ray Charles, would be without its star, Jamie Foxx, in what amounts to basically a perfect performance. His acting alone doesn't carry the movie; but there wouldn't be much of a reason to see the movie if it weren't for his acting.\nFoxx has been underrated for some time now. I have no doubt Foxx's early career on the sketch comedy show "In Living Color" helped him prepare for the flawless mimicry he inflects in Charles' voice and signature swaying in front of his piano. (It helps that whenever Foxx opens his mouth to sing, we hear the actual Ray crooning, which highlights the film's other alluring aspect, a wonderfully vivid soundtrack that plays like a "best of" collection.) \nIt's not so much that he's doing an impression of Charles, but that he is sincerely channeling Charles in the most complex ways possible. With "Ray," and Foxx's work in "Collateral" last year, he has positioned himself to win the Best Actor Oscar -- so go ahead and bet your apartment, your student loans, your kids, any major organs in your body, etc. -- and he deserves it.\nYet even with Foxx, "Ray" is still just an average movie. Overall, it doesn't hold up to other biopics this year such as "The Aviator" or "Kinsey." Those films' lead performances, by Leonardo DiCaprio and Liam Neeson respectively, might not be as bull's-eye as Foxx's, but those films were fully surrounded by an engaging screenplay and mindful directors. \nPerhaps the screenplay for "Ray" wouldn't have rung with such a flat tone if there hadn't been so much of it. The film's length -- a little over two and a half hours -- is excessive, and it only reaches 1966.\nThe DVD, no doubt ferociously churned out from its October theatrical release date in time to build up more momentum for this month's Academy Awards, contains the original theatrical version of "Ray" plus an extended version of film with 14 deleted scenes -- although why you'd want to make this movie longer than it already is would be a mystery to me. \nFor the curious, there's also a running director's commentary by Hackford (I would have liked Foxx to be included as well), and two complete musical performances. Also available are a "Walking in His Shoes" featurette and a "Ray Remembered" featurette. \n"Ray" is a DVD that could have used a little more. Ironic enough, it seems, for a movie that could have used a little less.