Bob Marley is one of the most interesting musical performers of the 20th century. But for its level, there are almost criminally few diverse documentaries and feature films about him. “Bob Marley: One Love” tries to remedy the situation a little by telling the story of the musician in the format of a biographical film. We’ll tell you in our review how it turned out.
Pros:
Kingsley Ben-Adir is perfect as Bob Marley; the film covers all important events from the life of the performer; technical performance of cinema
Minuses:
lacks depth and emotional spectrum; the nuances of Marley’s work remain somewhat behind the scenes; music could be used more creatively
Bob Marley: One Love
Genre biopic
directed by Reynaldo Marcus Green
Starring: Kingsley Ben-Adir, James Norton, Lashana Lynch, Michael Gandolfini
Premiere cinemas
Release year 2024
IMDb website
The film follows various moments in the life of Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir), the most famous reggae artist in the world. He tried to bring positive changes in people’s lives through his music. Not everyone liked this, which is why Bob had his enemies. But even the danger to his own life and the lives of his loved ones did not make Marley stop. Therefore, he adhered to his ideals all his life.
It’s not enough for a good modern biopic to just be a biopic. Usually, a great movie in this genre embraces a specific event or situation to become not just a retelling of a story, but a worthy work of art with its own ideas. A striking example is the recent Napoleon and Ferrari.
The main disadvantage of the film “Bob Marley: One Love” is that it has no ideas and morals. He takes a flamboyant performer and shows various facts from his life. It shows beautifully and truthfully, but without depth and staging. Therefore, sometimes it seems that you are simply watching a set of scenes that are connected exclusively by the main character, nothing more.
At the same time, Kingsley Ben-Adir was able to perfectly recreate the image of Marley. The actor here shines with the energy that he was charged with while watching. His movements, facial expressions and voice become almost otherworldly in their positive impact. The movie is definitely worth watching just for the actor’s performance alone. After it, you will almost absolutely want to know more about Marley.
And this is also a nuance that hides another minus of the film. Let it go for two hours, it’s pretty superficial. It seems that it is based on a Wikipedia page about Bob Marley, and there was no additional research at all. Yes, it covers all the key events, but it doesn’t delve too deeply into the life of Bob Marley. There are no interesting angles or unexpected facts here; the performer will not reveal a new side to you after watching it.
Here questions already arise for the film crew, screenwriters and preparation for filming in general. Because in 2024, it’s a little strange to watch a biopic that treats its main theme so emotionlessly. Bob Marley is an extremely creative person, but for some reason the cinema omits the nuances of creativity. Some films about less interesting people are more inspired than Bob Marley: One Love precisely because of the direction and script.
For a film about a musician, there aren’t many musical moments here. This is not a musical, although such a vector is not necessary, but for some reason music generally takes up a very small share of the movie. Yes, these are all famous Marley hits. Perhaps this is why they decided not to use them very often, because they are already incredibly popular. But this decision still seems somewhat strange.
The totality of the artistic decisions of the film leads to the fact that the main incentive to go to see it is precisely the fascination with the life of Bob Marley. That is, cinema does not work in isolation from its main figure, and cannot consolidate itself as an independent project. And this is usually the sign of a good biopic, when even a casual person who has not heard anything about the central figure in the plot still enjoys watching it.
The movie treats the figure of Marley with dignity and conveys all his charisma, but does not leave any space for reflection. The main character here is almost a saint – and this corresponds to reality, but why then watch the film? Why not just look at the real historical evidence? Because they will even better allow you to dive into the details of Marley’s ideology and the reasons why he decided to go his own way.
Not a single flashback, which in the story of Bob Marley: One Love, gives similar sensations. Because of this, long-time fans of the musical artist will feel bored while watching, and people for whom Marley’s music is something unfamiliar will not be able to perceive the thematic depth and varied emotional nuances.
This is still a good film technically and even script-wise. It’s just that with all the elements that were on hand, the creators could have filmed something completely outstanding. Or more inspiring and lively. Instead, they took the safest route of the biopic, which puts the emphasis on the word “biopic” rather than “film.” And this is his biggest failure.
Conclusion:
If you write a review of Bob Marley: One Love in the format of a retelling of moments from the movie, the text will resemble Wikipedia. Because there are almost no artistic nuances for which the biopic genre exists. Bob Marley received due recognition of his life’s achievements through this film, but such a lively and emotional performer deserves a more emotional film. And this is definitely not the case.
