The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to st... Read allThe story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.
- Won 2 Oscars
- 53 wins & 55 nominations total
- Mary Ann Fisher
- (as Aunjanue Ellis)
- Gossie McGee
- (as Terrence Dashon Howard)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRay Charles died of liver failure on June 10, 2004, after filming had ended. He was able to sit through the first edit of this movie before his death.
- GoofsThe scene where Charles is met by a group of protesters outside the Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia is a fabrication. Charles canceled his appearance after receiving a telegram from students at a local black college. The promoter successfully sued Charles for breach of contract, but he was never banned from the state of Georgia. When the Georgia state legislature honored Ray Charles in 1979, they didn't apologized for banning him because he was never banned. In the commentary, it is stated that this event actually happened, but those who looked into Georgia's legislature found no record that he was banned, just sued, and later they adopted as their state song "Georgia" - by Ray Charles.
- Quotes
Ray Charles: [responding to knock on his door] Who is it?
Ahmet Ertegun: Mr. Charles, my name is Ahmet Ertegun. May I have a moment of your time?
Ray Charles: [opening door] What do you want, man? I'm at church.
Ahmet Ertegun: I'm sorry. I'll come back later.
Ray Charles: You're here now, what do you want?
Ahmet Ertegun: Mr. Charles, my company, Atlantic Records, has just acquired your contract from Swingtime. I'd like to talk about your future.
Ray Charles: Hold on, man. Don't jive me now. I ain't for sale.
Ahmet Ertegun: May I sit down?
[Sits in chair]
Ahmet Ertegun: You see it seems that Jack Lauderdale has found himself, shall we say, a little over extended and has had to unload some of his talent. When your name came up I jumped at the chance to work with you. I'm a big fan.
Ray Charles: What if I want to go to another company? There's a guy out there right now that's willing to pay me seven cents a record. Can you do that?
Ahmet Ertegun: Man, I could promise you fifteen cents a record but you won't get it. Anymore than he'll pay you seven. What I will do is promise you five cents a record and pay you five cents a record. You think pennies, Mr. Charles, you get pennies. You think dollars, you get dollars.
Ray Charles: I like the way you put things together. Omlet, you're alright with me.
Ahmet Ertegun: Ahmet.
Ray Charles: Ahmet. What kind of a name is that anyway.
Ahmet Ertegun: I'm Turkish.
Ray Charles: Well, it looks like Jack Lauderdale's bad luck is my good fortune. I always knew Atlantic was bigger than Swingtime. You do great music there. I dig Atlantic.
Ahmet Ertegun: You could have fooled me.
Ray Charles: Well, I gotta keep my eye on you city boys. Back home they call it country dumb.
[Starts laughing]
Ray Charles: It ain't Turkish.
- Crazy creditsRay Charles is survived by 12 children, 21 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren.
- Alternate versionsUniversal Pictures Oscar Edition contains Extended Cut of the film.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards 2005 (2005)
- SoundtracksWhat'd I Say
Written by Ray Charles
Performed by Ray Charles
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing
Now for the big question: what are the criteria for an Oscar? The wife and I have seen untold numbers of films in our years, but we immediately agreed that we have never seen a performance the equal of Jamie Foxx's. The line between actor and character was not blurred - but rather it disappeared completely. We had heard much of the hype before seeing the movie, but this was uncanny. Foxx WAS Ray Charles. You didn't watch the movie with the feeling that you were watching Foxx do an outstanding job of portraying Ray Charles - you watched it somehow believing or understanding that you were watching Ray Charles himself. I don't know how else to put it. We were completely blown away. I'll admit that we haven't seen all of the other performances up for an Oscar this year, but that really doesn't matter. Foxx took this to a whole nuther level, one which we've never witnessed before and doubt that we may ever see again. I can think of no other movie I've ever seen in which a person playing a part so completely and convincingly became the person portrayed. We salute you, Mr. Foxx. We understand that the awarding of an Oscar has to do with much more than the performance, but whether or not you win, we want you to know that you have done something that is in a class absolutely by itself and you should take enormous pride in your unparalleled achievement.
P.S. The music was naturally great. I remarked to the wife that if there is one moment in the history of music to which I wish I could have been witness, it would have been the genesis (in Kansas City, wasn't it?) of What'd I Say? The film did a wonderful job with it - just wish I could've been there!
- bmcdannell
- Feb 1, 2005
- How long is Ray?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $40,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $75,331,600
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $20,039,730
- Oct 31, 2004
- Gross worldwide
- $123,971,376
- Runtime2 hours 32 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1