Ray Charles was a brilliant musician with a God-given talent.

Jamie Foxx is a brilliant comedian and an actor who is just now discovering he may possess some God-given talent as well.

What do the two have in common? The answer is simple: in the new film Ray -- a musical biography based on the recently deceased Charles -- the two have become one. They literally are the same person -- for two and a half hours, that is.

Never before has an actor nailed down a performance as to make the audience forget that they are indeed watching an actor. And who would have thought Foxx -- only recently stepping into the dramatic acting spotlight -- could have pulled off such a miracle transformation?

I, for one, did not think he had it in him, but this is truly an Academy Award worthy performance, and one of the best I've seen all year.

As much as I believe Foxx could have held this movie on his own, at least some of the praise should be aimed at director Taylor Hackford.

This is not your ordinary biography. It was not made to be a television movie of the week or something that you would watch on A&E late at night. No, this is a grand showcase of appreciation for an extraordinary human, and something of its magnitude can only be made for the cinema.

Hackford's vision allows for Charles' life to shine through on the screen in ways the late musician could never have imagined. Or maybe he could have, seeing as how he was so essential to the filmmaking process. And that influence shines through on screen in every magnificent recording studio session and live performance that the film captures.

Through Hackford's unique combination of flashbacks and dream sequences, the audience is able to better understand the demons that followed Charles throughout his brilliant early career. And the movie does not hide the fact that the singer/pianist was indeed flawed.

He cheated on his wife, abused alcohol and drugs and ignored his children; but still, there was always something lovable about Ray Charles. Ray understands this in its heart, so does Foxx, and that is why the movie succeeds. Even as we see Charles desert some of the people who were closest to him in his early life, there is never a feeling of hate or resentment on screen.

Foxx spent time with Charles before his death while preparing to make this film and if there was one thing he learned about the man, it was that anything could be resolved through a hug. Or at least that was Charles' philosophy on life.

As the film implies, that way of thinking does not always work. Though Charles was loved his entire life by one woman, wife Della Bea Robinson (Kerry Washington), he did not make it easy on her or their children.

But through Washington's equally strong performance it is easy to see why she stayed with him through all of the years: he was just too easy to love.

Earlier this year, the world lost Ray Charles. But while he himself has perished, every inch of his spirit echoes through the core of Ray.

Hackford has produced a musical tribute that will not soon burn out among the true admirers of the legendary artist. But when people think of Ray 10 years from now, the only person they will think of, beside the singer himself of course, will be Jamie Foxx.

Foxx is able to capture the heart and soul of someone he only briefly knew. If that is not the definition of talent, I'm not sure what is.