Bob Marley: One Love opens with a title card detailing where Marley and his home nation of Jamaica are at in December 1976 as Marley is set to perform at a peace concert called Smile Jamaica that was aimed to broker peace between the nation's two political parties before their next presidential election. Two days before the concert, a group of armed men attempted to assassinate Marley, his wife Rita and members of his backing band/team at his Kingston residence. While Bob, Rita and Bob's manager Don Taylor were left wounded, they all made full recoveries, and the Smile Jamaica performance went on as scheduled. After the show, Marley is left reeling and is forced to leave Jamaica for London for the safety of himself and his family. The film goes onto depict Marley's time in London, the recording of his classic 1977 album Exodus and eventual return to Jamaica to perform at the One Love peace concert in April 1978.
Despite its narrow focus on a crucial period of Marley's life, One Love manages to be just as hollow, if not more so than the typical music biopic. Not only do director/co-writer Reinaldo Marcus Green and the small army of writers (Terrence Winter, Frank E. Flowers, Zach Baylin) that are credited alongside him for the screenplay tell viewers absolutely nothing of consequence about Marley the person or the artist, they seem to have zero reverence for him whatsoever. The entire film is basically just a string of sloppily assembled events in Marley's life told with no energy, perspective or weight. Quite frankly, there's so little care put into the portrayal of Marley here that I could be convinced that it was secretly funded by people who hated his music, message of peace and Rastafarian/Pan-Africanist beliefs. As generic as films like Bohemian Rhapsody, I Wanna Dance with Somebody and All Eyez on Me are, they at least showed some sincere admiration for the artistry of their subjects. One Love can't even grant Marley that base level of respect, so it's no surprise that the product on screen is so exceptionally boring and incoherent.
It does need to be noted that the failures of One Love can't be put on the cast. Kingsley Ben-Adir does a perfectly fine job stepping into Marley's shoes during this legacy-defining period of his life and Lashana Lynch is probably even better as the supportive but understandably exasperated Rita. Whatever occasional spark of life that threatens to enter this sleepy picture comes in the few scenes where it's just the two of them talking. They're able to convincingly convey the conflicting emotions of a couple whose relationship is frequently challenged by Bob's refusal to acknowledge the sacrifice's Rita make as a mother and partner to support his globe-trotting career and his hobby of sleeping with other women and having more children on the side. Given how far removed One Love is from the heart and soul of Marley, it's almost shocking that Green allowed a few intimate human moments to make their way to the screen.
Not to sound hyperbolic, but I can without any hesitation that One Love is the worst music biopic I've ever seen. How someone whose career was largely driven by his passion and fearlessness got saddled with such a lethargic dramatization of their life is a baffling occurrence that defies comprehension. The good news for any future biopics is that One Love has brought the bar for the genre down to such a low point that it'll be really difficult for anybody to fall below it, although there are some upcoming titles in this space that could prove to be up for the challenge.
Grade: D
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