Get Up, Stand Up, Go See a Movie. (CREDIT: Paramount Pictures)

Starring: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton, Daniel Mellville Jr., Sevana, Hector Lewis, Tosin Cole

Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green

Running Time: 104 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Political Violence and Some Herbal Remedies

Release Date: February 14, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: It’s 1976, and Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) is on the brink of unfathomably massive superstardom. Meanwhile, his native Jamaica is being torn asunder by violence between rival political factions. After an assassination attempt leaves him and his wife Rita (Lashana Lynch) seriously injured, he flees for his safety to England. Meanwhile, he’s also in the midst of a world tour and preparation for a new album that will become the most acclaimed of his career. On top of all that, he’s trying to pretty much unite all of humanity with spiritual enlightenment. Alas, a deadly disease is looming in the way of every single one of his plans.

What Made an Impression?: Savior of the World?: I don’t know if this was intentional on the part of director Reinaldo Marcus Green or his team of screenwriters, but Bob Marley: One Love struck me as a rather messianic story. The parallels with Marley’s life and Jesus Christ are striking: death in their 30s, attempts on their lives, the spread of a new religion, efforts to forgive their enemies. The connection isn’t perfect, as One Love certainly doesn’t portray Bob as immaculate, and his cause of death is cancer, rather than a state-sanctioned execution. But it is notable that the movie’s story begins just a few years before his death, with some flashbacks to his childhood. Rock stars often inspire religious fervor in their legions of fans, and I don’t know if that’s ever been more true than in the case of Bob Marley.
Ya Mon or Not Ya Mon?: I’m no expert on Jamaican patois, and One Love doesn’t make much of an effort to accommodate me or anyone else who lacks that fluency. Even Kingsley Ben-Adir has admitted that he didn’t understand everything the real Bob Marley was saying when he watched videos of him to prepare for the role. And there are scenes within the film when non-Jamaicans struggle to make sense of him. Captions might have helped in this regard, but only to a certain extent. Still, I always got the gist of what was happening, and I ultimately appreciated the decision to keep it authentic this way.
Getting the Story Out There: One Love wisely keeps its narrative focus on a compressed time period, but besides that, it doesn’t distinguish itself with a whole lot of personality among the rock star biopic heap. We don’t get to see much of Ben-Adir performing, and when Bob Marley’s songs do play, it’s usually just a non-diegetic jukebox approach. Then the story stops somewhat abruptly, and we get the typical end titles about what else happened. Quite frankly, some of the events that were left out sound a lot more dramatically compelling than what was left in. So while One Love doesn’t quite reach the loftiest of heights, it at least doesn’t detract from its subject’s legacy. And if it inspires some viewers to dig into his discography and embrace his message of unity, well then it will have brought some good into the world.

Bob Marley: One Love is Recommended If You Want: To Research Everything About Bob Marley That Wasn’t Included in the Movie

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Dreadlocks