The Plot: Jamaica, 1976. Famed musician Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) has some thinking to do. His country is engulfed by gang violence and political upheaval, dividing the people of the island in the process. It’s only through art and the unifying power of music that can bring people together in these troubled times. Against the advice of people in the know, he decides to stage the Smile Jamaica concert to act as an antidote. With his wife Rita (Lashana Lynch), manager Chris (James Norton) and his band The Wailers, he then tours internationally but keeps a close eye on the homefront too…
The Verdict: It’s been a long time coming, but we finally have a dramatised account of the life of one of the great singers of the 20th Century – Bob Marley. Some might even say he’s the greatest, but that Cassius Clay-like approach wouldn’t match with Marley’s own grounded humility from his background in Trench Town, Jamaica. The reason for the delay is getting the right filmmaker and script to approach Marley without making him seem like either a saint or a fame-hungry star who burned twice as bright but only half as long. This is perhaps why his son Ziggy Marley has been heavily involved with Bob Marley: One Love including the casting of lead actor Kingsley Ben-Adir, that distinctive music and bringing along the rest of the family to do justice to the man himself. No pressure then on King Richard director Reinaldo Marcus Green.
With such a rich and varied life to choose from with Marley, Green has decided not to go with a wide-ranging biopic. Instead, he and his team of three writers have zeroed in on a key point in Marley’s life in the mid-1970s when he was in his prime. This was when his name achieved international fame, but also when his name back home had the power to do more than just make people dance and sing with joy. It had the power to speak truth to power and initiate real change on the streets of his beloved country. This is an admirable approach for a filmmaker to take with such material, tying Marley’s music to a time and a place while showing that it had the potential to cross any barrier and unite people everywhere. To a lesser extent, it also has the effect of not covering enough and introducing his health issues with only a cursory discussion between characters. It’s as if Green knew when to stop at a safe point in the story and not proceed further. The end credits fill out the rest of the story, but they shouldn’t be doing such narrative heavy-lifting.
What we have then is a reasonably decent but also reasonably safe film that works hard to capture the spirit of the man. On that front, Green has passed with honours. Through Kingsley Ben-Adir’s humane performance, there’s definitely the sense of a man who never forgot his humble origins, his love of people and the power of the spoken word to affect much-needed change. That shines through Ben-Adir’s committed performance, not so much an imitation of Marley but an interpretation. The lilting patois of the Jamaican accent can be challenging at times to the untrained ear, but thankfully not to the point where subtitles are required for this film. It adds character and local colour to the story, in combination with an earworm soundtrack plucked from Marley’s best tracks. For all of the film’s talk about peace and unity between opposing people, it doesn’t entirely sit well with some scenes like a violent assault that Marley commits on one of his team that betrayed him. Green might be a bit conflicted about some aspects of Marley’s life then.
Bob Marley: One Love is what might be described as a launchpad film. It’s a starting point for younger generations and those not all that familiar with Marley to discover more about his music and his too-short life. While it lacks the narrative depth that one might have wished for, it hits the right notes on finding the core of the man, the music and the message without being preachy. It’s a snapshot celebration of his life and in that regard it warrants a light recommendation.
Rating: 3 / 5
Review by Gareth O’Connor
In short: Hits the right notes
Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green.
Starring Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton, Michael Gandolfini, Micheal Ward.