Bob Marley: One Love (2024) Paramount/Musical-Drama RT: 104 minutes Rated PG-13 (marijuana use, some violence, brief strong language) Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green Screenplay: Terence Winter, Frank E. Flowers, Zach Baylin and Reinaldo Marcus Green Music: Kris Bowers Cinematography: Robert Elswit Release date: February 14, 2024 (US) Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton, Tosin Cole, Aston Barrett Jr., Anthony Welsh, Sevana, Hector Lewis, Michael Gandolfini, Nadine Marshall.
Rating: *
They say a person’s life comes down to the dash between their years of birth and death on their gravestone- e.g. Bob Marley (1945-1981). A lot can happen in that dash. A lot happened to Bob Marley, a pioneer of reggae music, during his short life. Here’s a guy who survived a lonely childhood, a war on the streets of Jamaica and a direct attempt on his life. He created music that spoke to the people. He’s one of the most exciting figures in 20th century music and certainly deserving of a great biopic. Unfortunately, Bob Marley: One Love is NOT that biopic.
From the start, Bob Marley: One Love seems like it’s going to focus on the famous 1976 Smile Jamaica concert, the one that took place just days after he (Adir, High Fidelity) and his wife Rita (Lynch, The Woman King) were shot in their residence in Kingston. NOPE! It all happens in the first 20 minute and the movie doesn’t even get it right. Director Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard) would have you believe Marley performed only two songs. In reality, he and his backup band The Wailers played for about 90 minutes. This isn’t the only time Bob Marley: One Love bends the truth. It leaves out quite a lot, glossing over crucial details like Marley’s affairs with other women and his complicated family history. The whole movie feels rushed and incomplete, his story compressed into 104 minutes. It also lacks cohesion, especially with the awkwardly placed flashback scenes.
ANYWAY, Bob Marley: One Love then follows the singer during the two years he resided in London. During that period, he recorded the best-selling Exodus album. It was also when he was first diagnosed with cancer. The film culminates with the One Love Peace Concert in ’78.
The music in Bob Marley: One Love is great. I’m not what you call a reggae fanatic, but I do like what I’ve heard of Marley. When he/Adir performs, the movie comes to life. Sadly, the drama falls flat. The best musical biopics- e.g. Coal Miner’s Daughter, La Bamba and What’s Love Got to Do with It- let us get to know their subjects intimately which adds context to the music they create. Green tries to do the same, but misses the mark by a wide margin. The screenplay (by Green and three others) is more like a list of bullet points. It checks off significant events in Marley’s life without really exploring them. His courtship of Rita when they were teens gets a perfunctory treatment. His childhood is barely explored beyond a few quick flashbacks that make little sense.
We get a brief explanation of what was going on in Jamaica circa 1976-78 via opening titles. Green largely stays away from political stuff, but I suspect that’s because Marley himself was neutral about the war between the two political parties. Okay, fine. HOWEVER, I would have liked more information about Rastafari, Marley’s religion of choice. I don’t know a lot about it and neither do most non-practitioners I assume. It would have been nice to have a greater understanding of the canvas on which Green paints his portrait of Marley.
The acting in Bob Marley: One Love is fine. That is to say, it’s not terrible. Adir does a decent imitation of Marley, mimicking his gestures and movements perfectly. Therein lies the problem. It’s more of an imitation than a performance. While I admire his commitment to become Marley, I understood maybe half of his dialogue due to a thick Jamaican accent. I think subtitles would have been in order for some scenes. Lynch, who I think is a great actress, gets underserved by a screenplay that often leaves her character adrift.
Speaking of the script, I couldn’t believe some of the dialogue. It’s not bad enough Bob Marley: One Love is disappointingly superficial, it also contains some of the worst dialogue I’ve heard in a long time. Here are a few sample lines for you to ponder:
“His guitar is his machine gun.”
“You swim in pollution, you get polluted.”
“Sometimes the messenger has to become the message.”
Those last two sound like they come right out of a fortune cookie.
In the end, Bob Marley: One Love is a bore. Not only that, Green takes too soft an approach to his subject. I was shocked when I heard it got a PG-13. I figured it would an R due to violence and Marley’s heavy use of marijuana. NOPE! Once again, the money-minded studio execs prevail. A PG-13 means teens can get in which means more $$$. The makers should have gone for gritty; it would have added a greater sense of realism.
With all due respect to Bob Marley and his family, Bob Marley: One Love is a failure on nearly every level. My advice to you is to listen to his albums and skip the movie.
