Cinema for Brunch BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE Review

“Bob Marley: One Love” is a by-the-numbers biopic that fails to leave the same powerful impact as its inspiration, despite a charismatic lead performance by Kingsley Ben-Adir.

Synopsis

Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley overcomes adversity to become the most famous reggae musician in the world.

Review
I understand when it comes to making a biopic about an icon, or a legend or anyone that has crafted or inspired any type of art that it is not easy. There are lightning-in-a-bottle examples of terrific biopics about towering legends – Taylor Hackford’s “Ray”, Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator”, Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X” – there are solid efforts and there are ones that miss the mark. Director Reinaldo Marcus Green, coming off his terrific award-winning biopic “King Richard” (which awarded Will Smith his first Oscar), finds himself in more “miss the mark” territory with “Bob Marley: One Love”. “One Love” follows the legendary reggae singer (played by Kingsley Ben-Adir) in the mid-1970’s, traveling to London after surviving an assassination attempt in a time of political conflict in Jamaica. While his wife Rita (Lashana Lynch) and their kids relocate to Delaware, Marley finds himself looking for inspiration for his band The Wailers’ next album, trying to overcome adversity of past and present demons and the deal with the pressure of being a revolutionary icon for peace.

Co-produced by his wife Rita and his kids, singers Ziggy Marley and Cedella Marley, “One Love” has good intentions in its creation. At its heart, it’s about a man dealing with the burdened responsibility of being a role model, an inspiration, a star, a leader, a father, a husband…and a son, loved by his mother, abandoned by his father. And the core trait between it all being – well, having – “one love”. A sweet, powerful message told through the lens of an easygoing, affable, talented man. But, when that’s all that a film has to offer in plot and powerful themes of overcoming adversity and being a beacon of peace isn’t enough to fill a void of being a good film, that’s a problem. Marcus Green follows the numbers of a biopic – the hero’s fast rise (while personal or past trauma follows him), the inevitable personal fall and the slow climb back to redemption. After a haunting assassination attempt on him and his wife’s lives, we follow Marley in London – taking inspiration from his personal situation and the soundtrack for the 1960 film “Exodus” – creating what is arguably his best work, “Exodus”. As Marley and his band (Marley’s wife Rita also being a member of the band) rises in popularity, a dark vision follows Marley: a young Bob runs from a burning field, coming face-to-face with his white, British absentee father on a horse. This is a darkly poetic vision that would be effective, if it was annoyingly replayed throughout the entire film. (Yah mon, we get it. Daddy issues). In addition to personal and professional demon, there is also tension between Marley and his wife Rita. Were it not for the great pairing of Ben-Adir and Lynch (more on that later), these scenes would prove to be mostly unnecessary for their repetition in the plot. To put it simply, there’s a blowup, separation, embrace, blowup again, embrace again. I know, such is the case with marriage sometimes but the more we linger on Bob being an asshole to Rita or Rita not seeing Bob’s vision and rinse-and-repeat, it starts to feel more like the writers here are looking for filler to fill out the runtime of this by-the-numbers biopic. Such a shame since we have “Sopranos, Wolf of Wall Street” scribe Terence Winter credited as co-writer of this project but not even four credited writers can bring this film much reprieve from its generic existence.

Great cinematography from Robert Elswit aside, Marcus Green’s “One Love” hits a lot of typical story beats without having much soul. However, that’s not to say this film is entirely without soul. It isn’t – it’s soul lies within Kinglsey Ben-Adir’s extremely charismatic performance as the iconic singer. Showing himself to have a knack for churning powerful performances out of his leads (see: King Richard), Marcus Green showcases another great lead performance in Ben-Adir. Marley’s smile, his warm presence (even his mostly hidden anger and frustration) is brought lovingly to live through Ben-Adir’s turn as the reggae legend. If there’s any saving grace to a by-the-numbers film like this, it’s him and Lashana Lynch’s performance as Rita. She carries a grace and strength to the role of Rita, her character not being without her flaws but not shying away from them either. The scenes between Ben-Adir and Lynch carry great chemistry and evidence of a strong union that overcomes and thrives its own adversity whether it be infidelity, resentment or lack of communication. For a film titled “One Love”, at least one can take solace that there is a realistic portrayal of such a thing presented here with these key performances.

Closing Thoughts
“One Love” misses the moment of being a great biopic but at least solace can be made in the great performances delivered by Ben-Adir and Lynch. While the themes may be strong in this film, its lacking plot unfortunately drags the whole thing down. What could have been an opportunity to present a richly exploration of a musical legend, his personal woes and his ever-arching influence is instead a Wikipedia bio presented in cinematic form. While the performances may be lively, the haunted visions and husband/wife arguments are repetitive and the film’s depth is mostly out of reach. Let’s hope the next biopic that comes our way is more in the “lightning-in-a-bottle” realm.

Trailer