A critic can always tell when a biographical film is a success. They always find themselves reviewing the title character more than the film itself.

I thought about this before seeing “Ray,” the new film from director Taylor Hackford about the life of musician Ray Charles. I realized I had known little about the man, but what else was needed to know? I knew Charles’ wonderful music and I knew the revolutionary sound that inspired millions.

About a quarter of the way through the film, I realized there were real lessons to be learned from this man’s life – more than his music can provide on its own. There are lessons about overcoming our demons. In Ray’s case, it was his little brother George drowning in a washtub as he watched, paralyzed from the fear that such a sight induces. Then there are the necessary lessons about being ourselves and not allowing guilt and remorse to suffocate the passions of our lives.

After learning the adversity and sadness that lingered throughout Charles’ long life, it makes the music so much more important. Songs that once felt like light-hearted romps now pack amazing significance. Words cannot explain the way this film complements the work of such an amazing American artist. Hackford spent about 15 years putting together this story – discovering a life most of the public has neglected to notice.

Hackford and cinematographer Pawel Edelman (“The Pianist”) use their skill to bring the world of Ray Charles to the audience. They use an extremely shallow depth of field throughout most of the film, keeping the subject at hand in focus while letting everything else drift away into background noise.

This is how a blind man lives. He focuses his ears, all of his attention on one particular aspect of his surroundings – the rest simply fades away. At certain points in this film, we can almost feel what it would be like to live as Ray Charles, and, best of all, we’re not forced to pity him. We develop a new respect for what he has accomplished and develop a respect for the people who forced the star to drop the dangerous lifestyle that almost landed him in prison.

The reason I dwell on the strengths of Hackford’s direction is because of the insane amount of hype surrounding the performance of Jamie Foxx. As nauseating as such hype can become, Foxx’s performance will go down as one of the classic performances of all time. He has not simply given us an impression of Ray Charles, he has channeled his charm, his charisma, his love for his music and his fear of facing his traumas as a child.

A fury of talent from unsuspected sources surrounds Foxx. There is Curtis “Please stop calling me ‘Booger’” Armstrong as Ahmet Ertegun, the man at Atlantic Records who virtually discovered Charles. There are the various women in Charles’ life – too many to list them all. All contribute intense presence to the film, leaving not a dull moment throughout the film’s lengthy two and half hours.

Hackford has created a film as provocative as its subject – as despondent as his sins and as imperative as any biography made in the past 100 years.

Walking out of the theater, I couldn’t believe we live in a world where most young people will remember Ray Charles as that goofy guy sitting behind the piano in Pepsi commercials. After seeing “Ray,” these people will never think this again.

Taylor Hackford has just done this world a wonderful service.