Bob Marley: One Love review: Legendary artist's life and legacy deserve better
Kingsley Ben-Adir and Lashana Lynch star as Marley as his wife Rita, but sparks fail to fly in this bland musical biopic
Bob Marley: One Love traces two years in the Jamaican reggae singer’s life, from 1976 to 1978. It was a tumultuous time in his native Caribbean island nation and the most fruitful of his short but legendary career as he recorded his famous album, Exodus. History intertwined with the creative process should make for a riveting story. Unfortunately director Reinaldo Marcus Green, along with his co-screenwriters Terence Winter, Frank E. Flowers and Zach Baylin, waste this opportunity and Marley’s legacy with a rather limp story full of cliches and perplexing choices.
Instead of telling the story of this singular artist and the inspirational impact he had on a generation, the filmmakers come up with a narrative full of all the musical biopic cliches. The marketing executive who doesn’t understand the creative process? Check. The bad manager who steals from the artist? Check. The excess and extramarital affairs that come with success? Check. These events might have happened in Marley’s life, but the bland way they are presented, with scenes full of bad dialogue and awkward framing, make them look rather anonymous. It could be any other musician, they do not feel specific to Marley.
The unimaginative cliches continue in the scenes that depict the making and recording of Exodus. Marley, played as an adult by Kingsley Ben-Adir, is shown pacing around in his London living room, trying to write while the TV blares news of violence from home. In the recording studio he recruits a new guitar player by taunting him to prove himself. He is surrounded by his band the Wailers, yet none of those characters are given any distinctive characteristics so they appear as an interchangeable Greek chorus there to just nod their approval or disapproval of what Marley comes up with.
All of these choices could have been forgiven if Green managed to make the concert sequences and musical performances memorable. Surprisingly there’s not enough of Marley’s music in this musical biopic. The audience who will buy tickets to this film primarily to see and hear Marley’s music—Ben-Adir lip syncs to the original vocals—will be disappointed. There is not even one full song sequence, just snippets of a few of his hits. And many of Marley’s best known songs—”Get Up Stand Up,” “Is This Love,” “Stir It Up”—are excluded. These songs might not be part of Exodus but this is exactly the time to take some creative liberties.
