'Bob Marley: One Love' - Movie Review

I am slowly re-entering the real world. I was on vacation for a week and just now getting back into the groove of day-to-day life.

During my vacation, I watched the movie Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount, 2024). Since I’m a music fanatic, I typically love these biopics. The soundtrack was obviously great but the film was just okay for me.

Bob Marley was portrayed by actor Kingsley Ben-Adir and he did a good job in the role. My issue was more with the story itself – it felt like so many details of Marley’s life and rise to fame were missing. Flashbacks to Marley’s childhood and feelings of abandonment were confusing at times. It wasn’t always clear who each actor was portraying, either. Lashana Lynch portrayed Rita Marley and she probably delivered the most compelling performance of the film. Most of the actors are British, but some like Lynch do have actual Jamaican roots.

In being true to Marley’s Jamaican roots, the accents were heavy here. So much so that it was hard for me to make out some of the words in the dialogue – especially when there was fast talking or background noise.

The part of One Love I enjoyed the most were the scenes of Marley and The Wailers in the studio and elsewhere working on Exodus. The inner workings of Marley with the record label and eventual tour and success were interesting, if not the complete story. Because the movie starts in 1976 just before the attempted assassination of Marley, all the history of his works before that time are basically missing from the film. I guess it doesn’t matter, but that means One Love isn’t a true biopic in that regard. Still, it’s less than two hours and entertaining enough, especially for music lovers.

Comments

[Him]

I tend to avoid biopics, Allyson. They often come off as lazy, overly fictionalized, and/or like hagiography. I saw the ads for this--and who didn't have his greatest hits on tape or CD in college?--and thought, "this looks like another dud."

Thing is, I do like decidedly (and admittedly) stylized/fictionalized takes on famous and not-so-famous people. _Raging Bull_, about Jake LaMotta, remains one of the best boxing films ever and a reminder that De Niro was once untouchable as an actor. Alex Cox's _Sid and Nancy_ was my first introduction to Gary Oldman. What an introduction! That he is still killing it on _Slow Horses_ is a testament to a great career. Forman's _Amadeus_ is also mad fun and foolishness, made good by Hulce and great by Abraham (who recently demonstrated his continued prowess in an episode of del Toro's _Cabinet of Curiosities_). And, obviously, no one can touch _The Wall_, as it remains the only answer to the question: "which one's Pink?" Turns out, the same guy who launched Live Aid, after being a rodent in some town named Boom!

But the rest? I just can't get into them. And I get their allure. I just don't get them myself. But, irie, everyone.