Bob Marley: One Love

“Bob Marley: One Love,” released in 2024, follows the reggae star’s persona, rise to fame, exile in London, and death, with the Smile Jamaica concert and the political conflict as the setting.

You will find the reggae singer’s image drawn on posters, walls of bars, and merchandise almost everywhere you go. The famous dreadlocks, beanie hat, and the message of love, peace, and unity have been central to music and pop culture even over 40 years since his passing in 1981. Reinaldo Marcus Green’s biopic shows Bob Marley, played by Kingsley Ben-Adir, the Rastafarian, and re-establishes these parts of his life and times.

Written by Green, Terence Winter, Frank E Flowers, and Zach Baylin, the narrative does not do the usual linear format of childhood, rise to fame, struggles, and downfall. It refers to his life story occasionally in short flashbacks. The film is mainly about the two years Bob, aka Nesta, spent in London after an assassination attempt on him, his band, and wife Rita Marley, played by Lashana Lynch, due to the political conflict in 1976. While the narrative stays true to the basic idea, it gives no look on how he became such a huge star or what leaving his home and being away from his family meant to him.

Dhaval Roy said in his review, “The screenplay turns incohesive and languid. That said, the aesthetics, operatic background music, Robert Elswit’s cinematography make this a riveting watch. The recreation of Marley’s stage performances, especially the song War at the Smile Jamaica show, will give you goosebumps and make you want to revisit his music again.” The cinematic feel gives the movie great appeal.

Kingsley Ben-Adir becomes Bob Marley and has a strong hold on the portrayal throughout. The persona as a musician, a Rastafarian, and a believer of peace and unity is shown through. On the other end, his difficult relationship with Rita is look on briefly, and is overlooked so fast. Lashana Lynch deserves just as many credits of her powerful performance.

Roy said, “From being treated to Marley’s smash hits, including Get Up, Stand Up, No Woman, No Cry, etc. Fans of Marley’s music and personality will have a treat watching this. But those clued in about him as a revolutionary may find the screenplay lacking.”

However, the aesthetics and performances make it worth seeing.

I saw this on Amazon Prime thinking that this would be a life story of Bob Marley. However, what we got wasn’t what I expected. For people who may not know his history will not like this so much, but that is not to say that this is bad. It is a decent film if we didn’t get everything we wanted from the film. However, still check it out, but bear in mind, this is just fine.

Thank you so much for tuning in to this year’s “Black History Movie Month.” I hope everyone enjoyed it, as I did more recent films this time around again. Look out next month to see what I will review next.