The “Bob Marley: One Love” movie was a cinematic masterpiece from beginning to end: From abandonment as a child to the Exodus tour to the bitter-sweet, cancer-ridden end.
The movie features constant flashbacks of Marley’s younger life when his mother moved to America with her American husband, leaving Bob to fend for himself in Jamaica. Marley fell in love with music at this point and is shown to be falling in love with his wife as a child. These flashbacks add to Marley’s story and supply needed plot points to understand his connection to his wife and his disconnection with his true family.
Kingsley Ben Adir played Bob Marley, and I believe he was the perfect cast due to his Caribbean heritage as well as his likeness to the singer. Thick Jamaican accents filled this movie, constantly leaving me behind in speech, but Adir’s ability to portray speech and ideas kept me engaged. Adir’s performance was only elevated by Lashana Lynch’s performance as Rita Marley, Bob Marley’s wife. Lynch, a Jamaican, added a much broader sense of emotion to the film just through her excellent acting. The real Rita was Bob’s rock, and she portrayed that truth brilliantly, from singing in the band to finding out about Bob’s cancer diagnosis.
The best part of this film has to be the musical score. While the film contains mostly Marley’s songs, it never felt overwhelming and dove into the process of making a song. The best part of this musical score has to be over a large plot point in which the “Exodus” begins to take off in popularity, boosting Bob Marley into a star. During this whole scene, songs from the album played adding to the feeling of success Marley was receiving
If there was one critique I could make about this movie it would be the camera work. The camera work felt lackluster compared to the acting and musical score. Shots of a simple stage with Bob singing felt too easy and left me wanting more from it. While there were good action shots through car windows and the use of framing to make something stand out; these were few and far between.
Overall, this movie was extremely enjoyable. As someone who barely knew Bob Marley’s craft, I now find myself much more informed. Bob Marley: One Love gets a 9.1/10 on the Kramer Richter Scale.
