Bob Marley: One Love is not a terrible biographical film about the legendary reggae artist, but it is rather underwhelming overall. It has a few bright moments and could have been something special if some different production choices were made.
Reinaldo Marcus Green directed the film which he co-wrote with Terence Winter, Frank E. Flowers, and Zach Baylin. Kingsley Ben-Adir stars in the lead alongside Lashana Lynch, James Norton, Tosin Cole, and several other talented enough actors. One of those actors was none other than Michael Gandolfini, son of the late James Gandolfini.
Ben-Adir is a charismatic enough performer and likely captured the essence of Bob Marley pretty well. As near as I could tell, he did his homework when it came to breathing life into the role. The cast did appear to be well-chosen. Lynch was quite compelling as Rita Marley, Bob’s wife. I have no real issue with how the film was cast.
The film largely focused on a three-year period not too long before Marley’ s death in 1981. There is some political upheaval going on during this time, and Marley has decided to appoint himself as some kind of peacemaker through his music. Near the beginning of the film. he and his wife are shot but only wounded. His fame grows across the globe as he sends his wife and children to stay with his mother in Delaware. The film is leading up to a famous event called the One Love Peace Concert which occurred in 1978.
Critics of the film raise have some valid points, however. Because of the Jamaican dialect, much of the dialogue was hard to make out, which was quite distracting. When characters got excited and were a little irate with each other, it was particularly difficult to follow what was going on in those moments. The progression of the story was a little disjointed at times. I was not sure what was behind the unrest in Jamaica at the time. I know I could look that up and figure that out, but the film could have done its part and explained it. I just knew that Jamaica was on a powder keg at the time, and there was quite a bit of violence and crime erupting all over the place. The writers could have been a bit more generous with the background information without bogging the film down.
The music that was chosen was pretty good. There were a couple of scenes with Marley kind of jamming with his band during house parties or rehearsals that were quite engaging. The concert scenes were captivating as well. I did enjoy the music even though reggae isn’t really something I have gone out of my way to listen to.
Anyway, I left the theater a little disappointed that Bob Marley didn’t have a better cinematic depiction. This was produced by his son and members of his family, so it seems that some more complicated or unflattering aspects of Marley’s background were glossed over. That’s kind of understandable, I suppose, but there are not enough merits here to let that slide without comment.
I have obviously seen worse films, but I was hoping that this one would stir me a little more than it did. I did appreciate some more exposure to Marley’s music, and I do concur with the general impression of his musical talent. I may need to add him to my Pandora playlist, but I wish the latest film about Bob Marley left a more favorable impression as well.
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