What’s It About
Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley overcomes adversity to become the most famous reggae musician in the world.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Bob Marley: One Love attempts to delve into the rich, complex life of the legendary Bob Marley, focusing on a challenging period between 1976 and 1978. Despite its ambitions, the film falls into the common pitfalls of music biopics, offering a mix of clichés and surface-level insights that don’t fully capture Marley’s essence. Kingsley Ben-Adir delivers a standout performance as Marley, perfectly capturing his unique physicality and vocal style. However, the film struggles with pacing and coherence, often glossing over the singer’s intense political influence and the passion of his personal life. The movie shines in moments that showcase Marley’s intimate life and deep political convictions, such as the scenes depicting his relationship with Rita Marley, played by Lashana Lynch, and his efforts to navigate the political turmoil in Jamaica. These glimpses into his private and public battles provide a more varied of Marley’s character. Yet, the narrative’s execution feels disjointed, bouncing between significant events without fully exploring their impact on Marley or the world around him. One Love also touches on Marley’s spiritual life and the principles of Rastafarianism, offering some of the film’s more authentic and moving scenes. In its attempt to cover Marley’s political activism, the film only skims the surface, failing to dive deeply into the ideologies that fueled his music and global influence. These moments are too brief to understand their significance to Marley’s music and message to its full extent. The movie’s portrayal of Marley sometimes feels like a simplification of his complex identity, focusing more on his status as a musical icon than on the depth of his beliefs and the challenges he faced. The film’s structure, which includes a mix of flashbacks, fantasy sequences, and present-tense narration, aims for a deep connection with Marley’s legacy but often ends up feeling unfocused and broken. Despite these shortcomings, Bob Marley: One Love offers compelling moments and a remarkable lead performance highlighting Marley’s enduring legacy. However, it ultimately struggles to provide a fully realized portrait of the man behind the music, leaving audiences with a sense of what could have been a more profound exploration of Bob Marley’s life and impact.
OUR RATING – A DISRUPTIVE 5.5