A ‘Ray’ of light into his story

Making a biographical film about an American icon is always

challenging, never more so than when your subject is still alive or

so recently deceased their visage and life story is emblazoned on the

public’s consciousness. Such a man was Ray Charles, a musical

colossus who was able to straddle the seemingly disparate worlds of

rhythm and blues, soul, pop, jazz, gospel, rock and even country.

Charles died in June 2004, just a few months shy of his 74th

birthday. Similar to other iconic musicians, Charles’ career

continued long after he ceased to be “cutting-edge” or even a

best-selling artist. We remember Ray being led onto the stage for

such national events as presidential inaugurations and Super Bowls to

perform his stirring version of “America the Beautiful.” Remembered

solely in this context, it is hard to remember that Charles was a

music pioneer, a highly visible civil rights advocate, and led a life

marked by exhilarating highs and devastating lows.

The just-released film biography “Ray” attempts to tell his

remarkable story. Born Ray Charles Robinson, he grew up as one of two

sons of his impoverished mother, Aretha. A traumatic event that

apparently haunted Charles his entire life was witnessing his younger

brother George drown in one of his mother’s washtubs. Just a few

months after this tragedy, Charles began to lose his sight, now

attributed to glaucoma, and was completely blind by age seven.

Aretha Robinson never allowed her son to feel self-pity.

Determined to have Ray be self-sufficient, Aretha Robinson eventually

sent him to a school for the blind. Charles became so independent, he

never used a cane or a seeing-eye dog. At age 18, Charles braves a

bus ride alone from his native Georgia to Washington to seek his

musical fortune in the burgeoning Seattle club scene.

Although initially just an imitator of established musicians such

as Nat King Cole, Charles is able to eke out a living as a pianist in

a traveling jazz band. Along the way, he is introduced to marijuana

and eventually heroin, an addiction he grappled with for nearly 20

years. Charles eventually finds his own voice when he melds his jazz

and blues influences with his beloved gospel music. Dismissed as

blasphemy by many at the time, this eventually becomes Charles’

signature sound.

Almost as interesting as the music is the story of Charles’

ruthless business dealings. Charles was savvy enough early in his

career to insist on being paid in dollar bills so he knew the band

manager wasn’t shortchanging him due to his blindness. Unlike many

black performers of his era, Charles used his celebrity and

marketability as leverage for some of the most lucrative deals in

recording industry history.

“Ray” stars Jamie Foxx in a tour de force performance that will

probably be remembered come Oscar time. Foxx, who had a breakout

performance in “Any Given Sunday” (1999) and has taken several

notable roles since, is absolutely uncanny in his ability to portray

Charles’ facial expressions, vocal inflection and physical

mannerisms. However, Foxx does far more than merely impersonate Ray

Charles. Foxx portrays Charles from age 18 to 49 and is able to

humanize him as he grapples with blindness, drug addiction, racism,

unscrupulous managers and partners, and numerous infidelities. It is

a testament to Foxx’s performance that Charles’ genius shows through

all his miserable circumstances and often despicable behavior.

Other than Foxx’s virtuoso performance, the picture is an ensemble

piece. All the many parts are excellently cast. Kerry Washington is

especially good as Ray’s long-suffering wife Della Bea. Although

appearing briefly in flashbacks, Sharon Warren gives a forceful

performance as the proud but impoverished Aretha, Ray’s mother.

The filmmakers wisely chose to use Charles’ actual recordings

rather than have an imitator recreate his glorious music. Even though

the performances are decades old, they more than hold their own and

result in one of the best movie soundtracks in years. Even those not

raised on Charles’ music will appreciate and understand his unique

talent.

Director Taylor Hackford paces the 152 minutes of the film

beautifully. Other than a brief vignette of “Georgia on My Mind”

being named the State of Georgia’s official song in 1979, the film

only chronicles Charles’ life through 1966. Even though what occurred

after that would probably be anticlimactic, I found myself wanting

more as the credits rolled.

What may come as a revelation to some is that Charles was in many

ways not a nice man. Charles fathered at least nine children (perhaps

as many as 12) by six different women. In addition to his drug use,

he also callously dumped business partners for the greener pastures

of more lucrative contracts.

I know many people dislike these “warts and all” portraits, but

Ray Charles lived a life to be celebrated despite his less admirable

traits.

* VAN NOVACK, 50, is the director of institutional research at Cal

State Long Beach and lives in Huntington Beach with his wife

Elizabeth.

‘Sideways’ explores middle-age crisis’

Alexander Payne’s new film, “Sideways,” is an unblinking portrait

of two middle-aged friends who have both reached a crisis point in

their lives.

Miles (Paul Giamatti) is a failed novelist and recent divorcee who

has decided to treat his best friend and former college roommate Jack

(Thomas Haden Church) to a weeklong sojourn to the Santa Ynez Valley

wine country, just outside of Santa Barbara, to celebrate Jack’s

upcoming nuptials.

Both men’s personalities are revealed by the differing

expectations they have for this bachelor getaway. Miles sees it as an

opportunity for some male bonding, golf and wine tasting. Jack, a

flamed out TV star, wants to shift into overdrive and sow as many

wild oats as he can before his wedding.

Both men soon become involved with women local to the valley.

Miles falls for Maya (Virginia Madsen), a woman who herself is trying

to find her way in love after extricating herself from a particularly

unhealthy relationship. Meanwhile, Jack takes up with single mother

Stephanie (Sandra Oh), who has no idea Jack is days away from tying

the knot with another woman.

Over the course of the next two hours, both men must decide

whether or not they want to move forward with their lives, or

continue to move “sideways.”

Payne, who co-wrote the screenplay with his writing partner Jim

Taylor (based on a novel by Rex Pickett), is the auteur who brought

us 1996’s “Citizen Ruth,” 1999’s “Election,” and 2002’s “About

Schmidt.” He has a talent at revealing his characters’ humanity

through their significant flaws. He especially takes pleasure in

making the audience as uncomfortable as possible by putting his

protagonists through a series of bad decisions that escalate the

tensions to great comedic effect.

Payne walks a fine line between affection and contempt for his

characters. Most fittingly, though, Payne’s characters are

recognizable people. The characters determine the plot, not the other

way around like most commercial ventures -- forcing them to take

actions that are against their nature, but necessary to move the

action plot forward.

Payne gets the details of people down perfectly in small moments:

Miles does a New York Times crossword puzzle while driving on the

freeway, Jack uses his wilting fame to score sex.

They are blithely unaware of their own hypocrisies, but see each

other’s with crystalline clarity. When Jack throws himself headfirst

into his relationship with Stephanie and acts as a father figure to

her young daughter, Miles is quick to see that Jack is only deluding

himself. Deep down, he has no intention of making a life with

Stephanie. He is only pretending to want something he thinks he

should want at that moment.

Miles knows only too well that Jack will coldly leave them behind;

Jack’s kindness is a mask to a crueler nature he himself wants to

deny. The reciprocal is true as well: Jack sees how Miles hides

behind his idiosyncrasies to hide the paralyzing fear he has of women

-- knowing that Miles uses his pretension as a defense barrier to

hide his own mounting failures. One of these men has a chance at a

future if he’s willing to take a risk, another will trap himself in a

safe but bland life.

It’s also a great achievement to make a movie about wine. It’s a

potent metaphor that sneaks up on you with an emotional punch, but

you wouldn’t think so at first. It catches you off guard; the way

drunkenness would when you stand for the first time after multiple

glasses of wine. The best scene in the movie is when Miles and Maya

both explain why they love wine, and not surprisingly, you realize

they are using it to describe how they see themselves in the world.

It’s also interesting to see a movie about the friendship between

two middle-aged men -- a relationship not often explored in American

film. If Jack and Miles ever had much in common, it’s dwindled to

nothing in the past 20 years since they met. If they met today, they

probably wouldn’t click. Only the past ties them together -- they

recognize the same disappointment is each other’s eyes.

They cling to each other because each validates the other’s denial

-- if one of them were to move forward with their lives, they would

soon outgrow the other. Insecurity is the glue of their friendship.

The movie is about the cracks in that glue. That’s what the film is

about at its heart, the end of one relationship and the beginning of

another.

“Sideways” is Payne’s first effort set outside his home state of

Nebraska and, as a result, is his most vibrant, mature and hopeful

work yet. This is easily the best film I’ve seen since “Eternal

Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it

bring home a statue or two come Oscar night.

* ALLEN MacDONALD, 30, recently earned a master’s in screenwriting

from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.