Musical biopics are all the rage at the moment. From successes such as Elvis, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Rocketman, to the upcoming Back to Black and the countless Beatles films currently in the works. It was bound to happen at some time then that a film centred around music icon Bob Marley would be made and thankfully it has now gracefully hit our cinema screens. Bob Marley was a true icon, as he popularised reggae music to the mainstream and he constantly promoted peace and unity in a time where there was none. To call this film inspirational would not do it enough justice. It would have to have delicately told his story throughout conflict and tragedy in his home country of Jamaica. Luckily the team behind the film pulled it off.
Kingsley Ben-Adir has played some iconic roles in his career so far from Malcolm X to Barack Obama and he’s even been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ben-Adir effortlessly fits into the role of Bob Marley, portraying him as a human, which sounds like a weird compliment to make but there’s a reason why I describe him as such. To further explain, we see multiple different sides to Bob Marley, from his childhood, to when he gets attacked and shot, to when he humbly put on a free concert back home, we see every single side to him as a person - the good parts and the bad. He wasn’t perfect but he didn’t care, he wanted unity and to see the world in a way that others could not. The power of this message is constantly reinforced with the use of the real songs by the actually Bob Marley which is sung throughout the film, making the film feel fluid and lyrical.
Bob Marley: One Love could have easily copied the typical narrative rulebook when it comes to musical biopics, but instead it wants to focus on key moments of his life. We do see glimpses of his past later on but the film throws us straight into conflict while Jamaica is still in unrest. The political civil war is raging and Bob is in the middle of it all. The film swiftly moves to the attempting shooting on his life and family and from there, the film doesn’t stop, from his time spent in England to the development of his masterpiece, Exodus. His story is told gracefully and respectfully to the point where most people will learn something new about him, the sign of a truly great biopic. I do wish we learned more about him and we spent more time learning about his life beforehand but the performance by Kingsley Ben-Adir greatly justifies omitting this.
The film is bright and colourful too with yellows, greens, and reds dominating the scenery and the concerts with the colours of Jamaica. We don’t see too much of the fallout after his attempted murder but the film does isolate him a lot from his family so we get to see his internal struggles and his emotions come out more as we see more of the person behind the microphone. Bob Marley was a revolutionary, not a rebel and the film takes this message home. Fans of his music, and his life, and anyone interested in learning more about him will gain something out of watching this truly remarkable story.
★★★★☆
4/5
Final Verdict:
Bob Marley: One Love is a powerful film that goes into every facet of his internal life. We learn how his life reflected his music and we learn where his inspirations came from and how that fed into his work. Kingsley Ben-Adir is ego-free in a performance that looks and feels true to the spirit of Bob Marley. I was personally impressed by how the story was crafted, even if the story does feel a little safe at times. You will learn more about him and explore his struggles but also his joys of life.
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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