Bob Marley: One Love
A love letter to the iconic reggae singer, this movie can’t get over its own biases.
Kingsley Ben-Adir keeps this biopic afloat with a strong performance.
The word “iconic” is thrown around cavalierly these days. We use it to signify a pretty fashion choice or a quippy response from a celebrity. And while words evolve (just ask all the pendants who lost the battle over “literally”) to have different meanings, sometimes the original definitions are the only apt ones.
Bob Marley is an icon. Though he’s been dead for decades, he is still the venerated face that most associate with reggae music, Rastafarian religion, and democratic social reform in Jamaica. An image of him with his signature locs would be instantly recognizable around the globe. His music is ingrained in pop culture and his influence on both music and politics is immense.
So how do you tell the story of an icon?
Bob Marley: One Love chooses not to. Instead, we get the story of the man behind the red, green, and gold posters and t-shirts. Produced by Ziggy Marley (Bob and his wife Rita’s eldest son), Bob Marley: One Love is a valentine to the spirit of the man who moved the world.
The film begins right before the 1976 Smile Jamaica concert, where Bob Marley and the Wailers were set to perform in hopes of counteracting the island’s political violence. But Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) and Rita (Lashana Lynch) were both shot before they could take the stage. Bob’s injuries are minor, and he still takes the stage days later as an act of passive resistance to the violent people looking to silence him, but he’s shaken by the shooting.
He sends Rita and the children to his mother’s home in Deleware before heading to England, where he’ll focus on writing his latest album, Exodus. As he gains fame around the world, Bob must try to stay true not only to his family but to the deeply held beliefs that have inspired his music.
More a love letter to a lost father than a biopic, Bob Marley: One Love is a sweet if slight movie. Ziggy Marley, who was frequently on set and controlled the rights of the project, was not going to greenlight a movie that took a critical look at his father and mother’s affairs, or the political turmoil in Jamaica that shaped his parents. What we get instead is a glimpse at the man behind the venerated music and how his beliefs drove him to create art that truly did change the world.
Because of this, director Reinaldo Marcus Green is locked into a rather cliché plot progression. Green previously worked with the Williams sisters on the biopic of their father in King Richard, so he’s likely intimately familiar with navigating storytelling and the feelings of family members who don’t want their loved ones shown in a complex light. Instead, we get the same biopic that every historic figure seems to get. If you’ve ever seen a biopic, you’ll be familiar with the beats: The artist struggles, the artist goes on a creative journey, the artist is inspired to make their most famous work, the artist must resist the temptations and trappings of fame, and the artist is eventually redeemed in some way. It’s a tale as old as time, or at least as old as Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
While there’s not much room for anything new and challenging in this narrative, I would argue that the person producing the biopic vastly affects the quality of the output. Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody was produced by Pat Houston and Clive Davis. Unsurprisingly, they are the heroes of the story. In both King Richard and One Love, those producing the film aren’t looking for accolades, they simply want to tell the story of the father they loved. As a result, though the films don’t delve into the messier aspects of either subject’s life, the movies themselves have a genuine love for their subjects that is compelling.
At the center of the film is Ben-Adir, who captures Marley’s natural charisma and kindness beautifully. Marley was a man who loved a pick-up soccer game and had exacting standards when it came to his music. We even get my favorite of the biopic staples: A scene showing us the subject doing what they do best. Ben-Adir plays Marley as a man who knows exactly what he wants, whether it be a particular cover for the album or a specific base riff on a song. It’s easy to see why so many were devoted to Marley’s brand of talent and charm.
As Rita, Lynch gets the less showy role. She is devoted to her husband but also sees the flaws behind the figure. It’s interesting that Green gives Lynch a scene very similar to the scene Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor got in King Richard. It’s a fiery argument where the wives take their husbands to task for all the little indiscretions they’ve ignored in the name of promoting the family’s mission. Both scenes are show-stoppers, and both scenes only scratch the surface of the familial drama that’s being glanced over in the movies.
Overall, if you walk into Bob Marley: One Love hoping to learn something new about the musical icon, you will likely be disappointed. The movie may, however, inspire you to Google Marley’s life or download some new songs. But the love and care behind the biopic, as well as the excellent performances make up for a rather one-sided version of events.
Verdict: Though not an in-depth character study, One Love manages to capture the essence of Marley’s iconic life.
Bob Marley: One Love is rated PG-13 and is available in theaters February 16.
