I haven’t seen Ray yet but I can’t remember the last time I have heard such praise for an actor. Every critic seems to say that Fox is incredible in the role. I don’t think there is any doubt he will get a nomination. Are his chances of winning the Oscar as good as they seem? The reaction to his performance seems a lot like the reaction to Charlize Theron in Monster but much more widespread among the critics. Plus, Fox has the advantage of being in a movie with more widepread appeal and he is playing a character people will like.
Side note, I think Fox might be in line for the supporting actor nomination for Collateral as well.
Having heard the kinds of things you heard, I thought it was likely. Having seen the movie, I think it’s very likely. All of what you say is true, and he was outstanding. In addition to that, the role was physically demanding (according to the IMDB trivia page for the movie, he wore eye prosthetics that made him blind during shooting, and basically he acts the entire movie with his eyes closed). And he did some of the piano playing and singing. Oscar votes have really fallen in love with that kind of stuff in recent years.
He was probably the only person available qualified to play the role right now (right appearance, talented actor, and a trained pianist) so it’s lucky he can act.
I just saw Ray this afternoon and I would agree that it was virtuoso performance from Foxx. The way he nails Ray Charles’ mannerisms and speech patterns is just uncanny. There were a few scenes where he seemed to be playing his own piano parts and I think there were at least a couple of scenes early where he was doing his own singing (in scenes as a very young Ray who had not yet developed his signature singing style…and the mature Ray Charles would have been impossible to duplicate vocally).
As far as winning the Oscar, I’m guessing he’s the immediate front runner but there are a few movies that haven’t come out yet but have a lot of buzz and may yield other contenders (Liam Neeson in Kinsey, Jude Law in Alfie, Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator and Johnny Depp in finding Neverland).
I’m trying to think of what other performances I’ve already seen and two that stand out as contenders for Oscar noms are Jim Carrey for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (also a Best Picture contender, IMO) and Billy Bob Thornton in Friday Night Lights.
Un;ess some sleeper comes along and really knocks it out of the park ala Sling Blade or Monster, I think the award is probably Foxx’s to lose.
As I was watching him practically channel Ray Charles in this movie it was amazing to think that this was the same guy who played “Ugly Wanda” on In Living Color. Who knew he was capable of this kind of performance?
He will have to transcend being Wanda. (“I’ll rock yo’ world.”)
Then again, they did give Sofia Coppola an Oscar last year, though she really deserved it and it wasn’t in acting. And Sean Penn won the Best Actor award last year despite having been Jeff Spicoli at one point. So maybe there are second acts in the lives of actors.
I’ve also heard the really good reviews he’s received for this role, and he may deserve it. But the academy does have a recent tendency to reward actors who play mentally or physically disabled characters; Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot, Dustin Hoffman in Rainman, Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, etc.
Saw RAY this afternoon – was completely blown away. Foxx deserves an Oscar nod moreso than Angela Bassett and Lawrence Fishburne did for their roles in the Tina Turner biopic some ywars back.
I’m pretty amazed, I ahve to admit. I only vaguely remembered Foxx from his bits on “In Living Colour”, and from what I could recall, I didn’t really like him, so it was with no small amount of trepidation that I went to go and see Collateral. I was reallyquite shocked at his performance. Blown away actually. It was akin to going to watch Gallagher smash another watermelon, and having him nail a shakespearian monolouge instead.
All I could think was why the hell did he waste so much time on In Living Colour?
From what I have seen of the previews for the Ray Charles movie, I can’t wait until our theatre gets it. It looks amazing, just from the previews.
I saw Ray a couple days ago. It’s in the category of very few films I will go back and see again while it’s still in the theater. Indeed, most of the time you feel you are watching Ray Charles himself. My only disappointment with the movie is that it covers Ray’s music from the beginnings up to his phenomenal country album, then the movie ends. It’s going to take an enormous performance by someone else to knock Foxx out of the best actor Oscar.
I’m pretty sure that I read that Foxx did none of the vocals in the movie and I doubt that they would need one note of his piano playing as the producers had access to all of Ray Charles recordings. Charles himself had been involved in the film project for 2 years before his death. While Foxx’s piano playing ability would make it easier to shoot some scenes, it is likely that no live sound is included in the movie soundtrack.
There are scenes where Fox is playing for his girlfriend in her house, for auditions or messing around in the studio which clearly did not come from recordings and for which Fox is definitely playing his own piano parts. There are only a couple of parts where he appears to be doing his own singing and neither of thos parts sound like Ray Charles.
for those of you who don’t think Foxx is funny – Hey. I laughed my ass off at BOOTY CALL. IN LIVING COLOR, not nearly so much. But by the time Foxx joined the cast, the Wayans family were off the show anyway.
Two quick questions – is a RAY soundtrack available? Almost none of the songs in the movie were pleyed from beginning to end… except maybe “Hit The Road, Jack.”.
