Just saw "Bob Marley: One Love", a biographical drama film directed and co-written by Reinaldo Marcus Green ("Monsters and Men", "Joe Bell", "King Richard"). Starring Kingsley Ben-Adir in the lead role, it is a blandly sanitised biopic that fails to properly address the most important details of its main subject.
In 1976, Jamaica is experiencing an ongoing political conflict between right-wing and left-wing factions. As an attempt to ease tensions, local musician Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) decides to perform a concert that will promote peace among the community. While making preparations, Marley and his wife Rita (Lashana Lynch) are shot a group of would-be assassins but both manage to make a full recovery before the concert can take place. Upset by the deplorable violence enacted upon him and his wife, Marley ventures away from Jamaica to the United Kingdom with his band while Rita and the children stay in Delaware, United States. During their time in the UK, Marley and his band brainstorm ideas for a new album, eventually deciding to take inspiration from the movie "Exodus", with Rita later joining them for the recording sessions.
If there were ever one person who could be solely credited with popularising reggae for the entire world, it would undoubtedly be Bob Marley. Throughout his lifetime, Marley and his band "The Wailers" recorded twelve studio albums, with his signature vocal style and deep lyrics cementing him as one of the most important musicians of the twentieth century. Even more than 40 years after his death, Marley still continues to inspire and influence musicians around the world, spanning a wide variety of genres that are not strictly limited to the reggae his music originates from. Being a subject this significant, Marley's life is certainly a prime topic for a cinematic biopic, but in "Bob Marley: One Love", all we get is a watered down, compromised look at only the surface level achievements of this man's legacy.
Given what an interesting life Bob Marley lived, it comes as quite a surprise that this film chooses to glance over so many notable things that he accomplished during such a pivotal time in his career. Granted, we do see some basics outlined to us, like how Marley considered his music apolitical in a heavily politically divisive Jamaica, but they are never properly explored in real detail. In addition to this, Marley was known for incorporating his Rastafarian beliefs into his music, however, we are never shown how he managed to make this work so well. The whole time throughout this film I wanted to see Bob Marley's clever ability to fuse all of these heavy-handed themes into his music, yet all we ever get are just brief glimpses at what could have been instead. Taking into account how Marley's talents have had such a huge impact on the way the entire country of Jamaica is viewed by the rest of the world, I couldn't help but feel cheated whenever the film teased us with all these seemingly important moments that ended up going nowhere.
On that note, one of the biggest artistic issues with this film is its terrible pacing and editing. For instance, the film establishes that Marley was already well known within his native Jamaica, yet the audience is never made to feel as though his local fame is anything significant. We are only ever shown brief scenes of him interacting with his wife and children, recording music with his band, and giving press conferences regarding his upcoming concert. Before too long, and without any real build-up, Marley and his wife Rita are shot and rushed to hospital in a scene that is so hastily edited together that you can barely comprehend what just happened. To complicate matters further, the film then inserts an oddly placed flashback to Marley and Rita when they were younger as an arbitrary way to show the enduring strength of their relationship. After this scene has concluded, the film then cuts to a recovered Marley returning to rehearse with his band, without any indication of how much time has passed or whether the attempted assassins were apprehended. It's hard to care about the subject of this biopic when so little care has been put into crafting out this particular timeframe, and if you can even get that right within the first 15 minutes, you're in big trouble.
Despite all of these major issues, the film at least has a nice soundtrack, which should go without saying since it is about the most iconic reggae musician of all time. Practically all of Bob Marley's most famous hits can be heard here, ranging from "I Shot the Sheriff" to "Get Up, Stand Up", all of which give the film a bit more personality than it would otherwise lack. I also liked watching the scenes where Marley is shown coming up with some of his best known songs, like how spending time with his sons inspired him to write "Three Little Birds" and how "Redemption Song" is actually a reworking of a track he wrote when he was much younger. Though it is clear the film is taking an artistic licence regarding the origins of these tunes, there is at least some emotional weight behind moments like this, which is more than can be said for most other parts of the story that constantly feel dead on arrival.
In the lead role as the film's main subject, Kingsley Ben-Adir does a decent enough job playing Bob Marley. I thought the scenes where Ben-Adir shone the most were the ones where he is performing at concerts, where he efficiently mimics Marley's stage mannerisms and his ability to keep the crowd invested in both the melody and the lyrics. It's a shame the rest the material he has to work with is so painfully weak, especially during the repetitive dialogue scenes which consist of him either questioning the sanctity of his marriage or telling his bandmates what song he's going to write next. It also doesn't help that all of the supporting cast are so vastly underwritten that you'd be struggling to remember the name of anyone significant besides Marley's wife Rita. With that said, I would say Ben-Adir's performance is one of the better features of this otherwise lacklustre biopic.
Considering the enduring popularity of Jamaica's most famous musician, it's exceptionally disappointing that "Bob Marley: One Love" has fallen so short of telling the full story about this fascinating individual. There are several missed opportunities for this film to have explored Marley's life in such great detail given the magnitude of his contribution to music, as well as the overall reputation of Jamaica itself. Instead, all we get is this mediocre autopilot biopic that barely scratches the surface of everything Bob Marley and his songs were all about. Thankfully, the timeless quality of Bob Marley's music will escape unharmed from this and continue to bring joy for many generations to come. It's too bad the same can't be said for the film itself.
I rate it 5/10.
In 1976, Jamaica is experiencing an ongoing political conflict between right-wing and left-wing factions. As an attempt to ease tensions, local musician Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) decides to perform a concert that will promote peace among the community. While making preparations, Marley and his wife Rita (Lashana Lynch) are shot a group of would-be assassins but both manage to make a full recovery before the concert can take place. Upset by the deplorable violence enacted upon him and his wife, Marley ventures away from Jamaica to the United Kingdom with his band while Rita and the children stay in Delaware, United States. During their time in the UK, Marley and his band brainstorm ideas for a new album, eventually deciding to take inspiration from the movie "Exodus", with Rita later joining them for the recording sessions.
If there were ever one person who could be solely credited with popularising reggae for the entire world, it would undoubtedly be Bob Marley. Throughout his lifetime, Marley and his band "The Wailers" recorded twelve studio albums, with his signature vocal style and deep lyrics cementing him as one of the most important musicians of the twentieth century. Even more than 40 years after his death, Marley still continues to inspire and influence musicians around the world, spanning a wide variety of genres that are not strictly limited to the reggae his music originates from. Being a subject this significant, Marley's life is certainly a prime topic for a cinematic biopic, but in "Bob Marley: One Love", all we get is a watered down, compromised look at only the surface level achievements of this man's legacy.
Given what an interesting life Bob Marley lived, it comes as quite a surprise that this film chooses to glance over so many notable things that he accomplished during such a pivotal time in his career. Granted, we do see some basics outlined to us, like how Marley considered his music apolitical in a heavily politically divisive Jamaica, but they are never properly explored in real detail. In addition to this, Marley was known for incorporating his Rastafarian beliefs into his music, however, we are never shown how he managed to make this work so well. The whole time throughout this film I wanted to see Bob Marley's clever ability to fuse all of these heavy-handed themes into his music, yet all we ever get are just brief glimpses at what could have been instead. Taking into account how Marley's talents have had such a huge impact on the way the entire country of Jamaica is viewed by the rest of the world, I couldn't help but feel cheated whenever the film teased us with all these seemingly important moments that ended up going nowhere.
On that note, one of the biggest artistic issues with this film is its terrible pacing and editing. For instance, the film establishes that Marley was already well known within his native Jamaica, yet the audience is never made to feel as though his local fame is anything significant. We are only ever shown brief scenes of him interacting with his wife and children, recording music with his band, and giving press conferences regarding his upcoming concert. Before too long, and without any real build-up, Marley and his wife Rita are shot and rushed to hospital in a scene that is so hastily edited together that you can barely comprehend what just happened. To complicate matters further, the film then inserts an oddly placed flashback to Marley and Rita when they were younger as an arbitrary way to show the enduring strength of their relationship. After this scene has concluded, the film then cuts to a recovered Marley returning to rehearse with his band, without any indication of how much time has passed or whether the attempted assassins were apprehended. It's hard to care about the subject of this biopic when so little care has been put into crafting out this particular timeframe, and if you can even get that right within the first 15 minutes, you're in big trouble.
Despite all of these major issues, the film at least has a nice soundtrack, which should go without saying since it is about the most iconic reggae musician of all time. Practically all of Bob Marley's most famous hits can be heard here, ranging from "I Shot the Sheriff" to "Get Up, Stand Up", all of which give the film a bit more personality than it would otherwise lack. I also liked watching the scenes where Marley is shown coming up with some of his best known songs, like how spending time with his sons inspired him to write "Three Little Birds" and how "Redemption Song" is actually a reworking of a track he wrote when he was much younger. Though it is clear the film is taking an artistic licence regarding the origins of these tunes, there is at least some emotional weight behind moments like this, which is more than can be said for most other parts of the story that constantly feel dead on arrival.
In the lead role as the film's main subject, Kingsley Ben-Adir does a decent enough job playing Bob Marley. I thought the scenes where Ben-Adir shone the most were the ones where he is performing at concerts, where he efficiently mimics Marley's stage mannerisms and his ability to keep the crowd invested in both the melody and the lyrics. It's a shame the rest the material he has to work with is so painfully weak, especially during the repetitive dialogue scenes which consist of him either questioning the sanctity of his marriage or telling his bandmates what song he's going to write next. It also doesn't help that all of the supporting cast are so vastly underwritten that you'd be struggling to remember the name of anyone significant besides Marley's wife Rita. With that said, I would say Ben-Adir's performance is one of the better features of this otherwise lacklustre biopic.
Considering the enduring popularity of Jamaica's most famous musician, it's exceptionally disappointing that "Bob Marley: One Love" has fallen so short of telling the full story about this fascinating individual. There are several missed opportunities for this film to have explored Marley's life in such great detail given the magnitude of his contribution to music, as well as the overall reputation of Jamaica itself. Instead, all we get is this mediocre autopilot biopic that barely scratches the surface of everything Bob Marley and his songs were all about. Thankfully, the timeless quality of Bob Marley's music will escape unharmed from this and continue to bring joy for many generations to come. It's too bad the same can't be said for the film itself.
I rate it 5/10.