JAMIE FOXx
By Nate Lee

BEST FILM:

Ray

The brilliance of this film is chiefly due to the ability of Jamie Foxx to so thoroughly bring to life all of the many aspects of Ray Charles and his genius.

GREAT PERFORMANCES YOU MAY NOT HAVE SEEN:

Collateral (a cab driver for an assassin)

Ali (boxing partner)

Jarheads (Marine sergeant in Iraq)

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

Booty Calls

Breakin’ All the Rules

BLOCKBUSTERS:

Dreamgirls

The Kingdom

Stealth

Miami Vice

THE REAL FOXX:

Ray:

People were shocked to find that Jamie Foxx did his own playing and singing. Perhaps they’d be even more shocked to find that the stand-up comedian turned actor studied at Juilliard and won a music scholarship to the United States International University in San Diego.

ACTING STYLE:

He’s a stand-up comic, a singer, an action star and a real actor. Unlike even the best of the hyphenates, Foxx can keep them completely separate, except when called on to combine all of them as with Ray (comic, too: Ray Charles succeeded on his sense of humor as well). Ironically, in his other best roles, there is not a hint of comedy. He comes across as wound pretty tight, not too tight but pretty tight.

BITS AND QUIRKS:

The stare and the squint. A gentle but intense threatening nod. A minimal tightly wrapped style. Sneering smile.

GREAT SCENES:

RAY: Every time he plays, it’s thrilling >> The jail scene > The negotiations over the masters with the record company.

ANY GIVEN SUNDAY: Vomiting on the field > Fighting with his girlfriend > The “superstar” montage. > Showdown with coach Al Pacino at his house. > The party where he gets his Hummer sawed in half.

COLLATERAL: Standing by the cab when a body falls out a window right by him.

DREAMGIRLS: Finding out he has a daughter at the end > The payola montage

JARHEADS: Talking with Jake Gyllenhaal in a foxhole in the midst of the burning oil fields of Iraq.

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