Becoming The Muse

Bob Marley: One Love Movie Review

Bob Marley: One Love is a 2024 American biographical drama musical film based on the life of reggae singer and songwriter Bob Marley. The movie, premiered in Kingston, Jamaica on 23 January 2024, and was released in the United States by Paramount Pictures on the 14^th of  February 2024.

The biographical movie depicts the story reggae icon Bob Marley, the rise to fame, adversity, and the journey behind his revolutionary music.

The Good

It’s about Bob Marley! What he did for reggae music and the rasta culture to the world cannot be undone, so as his revolutionary work. Bob Marley performed at Zimbabwe’s independence concert on midnight of 17^th April 1980 as the new flag was raised on independence day on18 April 1980 and the dawn of a new era.

At midnight, in absolute silence, the Union Jack was lowered from the big flagpole in the middle of the stadium and replaced by the four-coloured flag of the young state. Southern Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. For real, this time.

After the flag-raising, the first official words of the new nation of Zimbabwe were, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Bob Marley and The Wailers!”

@beatonm5

Bob Marley Zimbabwe Independence 1980

♬ original sound – ~B – ~B

The movie depicts Bob Marley from a perspective I had never fully appreciated, that he was a man, flawed and all, simply trying to spread a message he believed in, unity, freedom and One Love. Its also great for someone who wants a brief insight into the life of Bob Marley and a measure of why he was such a big deal.

I have always loved the music from back in the day when my dad used to fiddle around with vinyl of Bob Marley and The Wailers Music on the turntable of Tempest Super 25 Stereo System. Watching the movie gave me a deep appreciation of the music and a backstory of how it came to be and even the wailers names and the inspiration of the cover art I remember seeing on old vinyl LPs.

Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob Marley is remarkable and brought the late great icon back to life in his performance of him and supported by Lashana Lynch who plays Rita Marley become a dynamic duo.

The Bad

While the movie is mostly true to late icon’s biography they did take a few creative liberties from the real story of Bob Marley, in production that is mostly about events between 1976 and 1978 a tip of the iceberg compared to his entire career.

The plot feels like it rushes through Bob Marley’s life in a series of summarised bullet points, missing opportunities to explore Marley’s artistry, political context,  childhood, personal relationships and everything that made him such a complicated yet iconic character.

Lashana Lynch as Rita Marley delivers a solid performance which is mostly downplayed and outside of “big fight scene” which seems out of place, given how neatly the movie sweeps away the dirty laundry of Bob and Rita’s relationship, which was far from perfect.

The Ugly

Bob Marley: One love could have done more to explore the impact, the icon had and his struggles thus reducing the authenticity in failing to capture his artistry and personal convictions flaws and all.

I had really hoped his perspective of perfoming at Zimbabwe’s independence concert with a song tailor-made for Zimbabwe’ liberation struggle where he chartered a plane and equipment to perfom as well diffuse a potentially charged situation with his music alone—would have had some feature or mention in the movie but instead its all packaged as an African Tour Montage that’s less than a minute.

Final Thoughts

A great movie that tries to capture the life of an icon, great for anyone curious about the music, wanting to learn more about the late reggae icon with a legacy of immortal hits which will have you dusting up your Bob Marley greatest hits playlist..  cause every little thing is gonna be alright.

Fun Fact: Its box office run marked it as one of the best openings for a music biopic and currently stands as the 8^th highest grossing movie of 2024.

Have you watched Bob Marley: One Love and you familiar with the music?