“Bob Marley: One Love” Movie Review
BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE celebrates the life and music of an icon who inspired generations through his message of love and unity. On the big screen for the first time, discover Bob’s powerful story of overcoming adversity and the journey behind his revolutionary music.
Anyone who reads me or follows me knows that I have a soft spot for a biopic, and importantly for the public or relevant people that I’m fans of, so it is also no secret that the “Bob Marley Movie” is one of those movies that I had on my must-watch list for this year, and I just couldn’t be more hype to sit for this screen when the invite came around. With that being said, I have to also admit once I got out of the screening, I knew that a lot of people would not absolutely love how the Bob Marley movie is played out even though I for myself, absolutely loved what they did.
What worked:
Storywise, I was ok with the decision by the filmmakers to focus on his love for his home country of Jamaica and his relationship with his wife. I was ok that we also focused on the decisions made to make this album Exodus the hit that it was when it first came out, and the impact his music made. I was ok that we did not focus the whole movie just on his music and how it came about. I was ok with the fact that we absolutely had a more personal take on his story, and his role in uniting to vastly different political parties for the love of the Jamiaca people, and the country. I loved how much love he had for his wife, and how she was presented in the story given we know so much about Bob Marley the person in the public eye.
Performance-wise, actor Kingsley Ben-Adir did great a portraying Bob Marley, while I do admit that moments during the development of the story I had a tough time putting him in the character, when he made it work, he absolutely nailed the role. With actress Lashana Lynch as Marley’s wife Rita, that thing that struck me the most was the King Richard effects in the sense that when Lynch was sharing a scene with Ben-Adir her portrayal of Rita completely overpowered Ben-Adir’s performance. I say this because while I don’t know much of Rita, Lynch did a great job at projecting as a powerful woman in front of this persona that the whole world loves for his music and his character.
The music, as any biopic from a renowned singer, played a huge role in the storytelling. I was mesmerized when the writers managed to at least give us a little be of a glimpse of Bob Marley in his youngs and how he got started in the business in Jamaica. Practically every single song that turned into a hit during the career of Bob Marley was used to give some life to the scenes, And a fan of his music will surely be singing and dancing to his music as the movie played out in front of them. I know I did.
What did not work:
I have a few things to say that did not work for me. Yet I would completely understand if anyone would complain that the movie feels way generic it’s it narrative. Yes, I agree with that statement. Filmmakers did not dive fully into every single aspect of his life, beyond his relationship with his wife, every other aspect was touched upon at a surface level. If anything I feel the movie flew by, that 90 minutes plus runtime felt as if it all happened in under an hour as the narrative felt rushed at moments moving from one subject to another. Did I wish they dove a little bit more into his music and his childhood? Yes, but I did not mind the current end result.
In conclusion:
Yes, “Bob Marley: One Love” plays out as a generic biopic, rushing through subjects, and touching on them at a surface level. But fans of his music will surely enjoy this walk down his life, and they will surely be happy with the end result of how this film pays tribute to his life, his work, his country, and his family.
