From the director of the Oscar nominated King Richard comes another biopic that hopes to capture just a fraction of the acclaim of the directors previous effort. I’ll give it a fraction, and I wasn’t even someone who believed King Richard warranted a Best Picture nomination in the first place. Like its predecessor, bob Marley: One Love becomes about the performance of its leading man, and to some extent the actress who lives in his shadow.
Following the formula that worked before, bob Marley: one Love leans on the talents of Kingsley Ben-Adir as bob Marley to sell the film, and much like how King Richard’s Will Smith had a strong female figure behind him, Ben-Adir is backed by Lashanna Lynch, fresh off a successful 2022 that stacked her with The Woman King and Matilda: The Musical. The movie focuses on a specific period in Marley’s life, where he attempts to put together a concert amidst political turmoil.
Marley’s lifelong commitment to peace, and music is evident, and this is absolutely one of those music biopics that loves to let the song play out. So, a lot of the runtime is just the song, much to the detriment of the dev development of everything else. I felt like from then Wailers, to the actual reasons for political unrest in his country, the film didn’t do a good job of fleshing the world around Bob Marley out. He’s a figurehead of something, we’re just not really sure why. The time jumps don’t help. Basically, what grounds the film is two strong performances, a supporting cast that seems to be doing fine in underdeveloped characters, and the music of bob Marley.
The film manages to bring up some of Marley’s traits that have helped to shape him, growing up amidst racial strife, and the effect of Rastafarianism on his outlook, as well as references to his health. There are glimpses at these things, but it isn’t well rounded.
The audio description for the film really seemed like it did a good job of capturing all of the various elements, notably the time shifts, so that we can follow the Marley’s through the years. In the end though, even with solid audio description, this is just a regular biopic, that feels incomplete, and like so many others that are dependent upon the performance of a lead actor/actress.
Final grade: B-
