Raymond and Ray Movie Review

Streaming on Apple TV+ beginning October 21, 2022

“Raymond and Ray” is an interesting movie about a dysfunctional family. In movies, are there any other types, other than dysfunctional? Two half-brothers are asked to attend the funeral and the burial of their father. Both of them harbor a deep hatred of the man who birthed them and raised them. Now what will happen when their common ‘enemy’ is gone?

Raymond (played by Ewan McGregor) goes to visit his half-brother Ray (played by Ethan Hawke). They have not seen each other for ages, and now what brings them together is the death of their father, Harris (played by Tom Bower). Harris is their common last name, but they both refer to ‘dad’ as Harris.

Raymond has had his license revoked for a DUI, so he has taken a chance to drive over to see his brother. Ray is recovering addict, and he is positive that Harris demeaning him during his childhood was the ultimate cause of his woes. Raymond also has issues, but his are less obvious. He is tightly-wound, and likes everything nice and orderly.

One of the things that Harris did to screw with both of their heads is to give them both the same name. Thus, one is known as Raymond, and the other known as Ray. Ray had a deep interest in jazz music, but Harris frowned on that that when Ray was young. He took away Ray’s horn, and said he pawned it years ago. Raymond never had much of a chance to do anything right – not in the eyes of his father. Both of them hold a deep resentment.

Raymond convinces Ray to drive the both of them to Richmond, to attend the funeral. But there, they find that Harris is still playing mind games. Yes, they will attend the visitation at the funeral home — but Harris has it in his will that the boys dig his grave at the cemetery. Also, they find that Harris has selected a cheap wooden box as his casket. Oh yeah, he requested to be buried completely naked, face down in the coffin. Harris had some real quirks!

They find that Harris was staying in final days at the home of a lady named Lucia (played by Maribel Verdú). Lucia, and the funeral director and Harris’ lawyer have nothing but nice things to say about Harris. He was very outgoing and loved to talk and he was always the center of attention. Ray and Raymond are shocked that this guy that mistreated them so badly has a little fan club in Richmond.

Lucia introduces Ray and Raymond to her young son Simon (played by Maxim Swinton). Oh, by the way, Harris not only lived at Lucia’s house – they were also lovers for many years. That makes Simon… Hello, new unknown half-brother! Later at the funeral home, Ray meets an attractive black woman who was at the visitation. She turns out to be Kiera (played by Sophie Okonedo). She was Harris’ nurse in the final months of his life. She also has nothing but good memories of Harris.

Later at the cemetery, the whole group gets to the burial plot. Everything is prepared for the grave to be dug. Raymond and Ray feel that this is just one more humiliation that Harris had put on them. But they go ahead and get the dirt cleared out for the burial. They also meet Reverend West (played by Vondie Curtis-Hall). He is a Christian minister that Harris had befriended. Harris claimed to Jewish, because he converted during one of his many marriages.

There are many harsh words and mixed emotions during the time at the cemetery. There are two other guys who show up, and let’s just say — the Harris family is bigger than anyone thought. Raymond has a lot of pent-up repression that finally breaks loose, in a very ‘ballistic’ manner. Ray, upon finding that his father never did pawn his horn, gives what you might call a very musical elegy.

The focus is almost always the messed-up brothers, and the now deceased man who made these two big messes. But maybe there can be some reconciliation between Ray and Raymond. Perhaps there is a touch of sympathy, and romance, between Lucia and Raymond. And could there be a glint of interest between Kiera and Ray? It is very busy and eventful day, that’s for sure.

“Raymond and Ray” is a quirky little movie that gets some great actors and gives them a baseline of a story to work with. Everything they find out about the dead man who gave them both the same name matches up with nothing that they had suffered though as children. The plot is very bare-bones, and it leaves it up to the talent of the actors to make something out of it.

Both Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke are terrific actors, and they do the best that they can. This story does not demand all that much, but Hawke has a better defined role as the musical washout who has an additive personality. McGregor has less of a distinct background, but his character has many traits of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). These two interact in a way that brothers would, if they lived out their formative years enduring abuse and trauma.

“Raymond and Ray” has some wonderful actors playing inconsequential roles – as half-brothers, in a weird and quirky world that that was created by a less-than-perfect father.