107 min | PG-13 | February 14, 2024 | Paramount Pictures
The authorized Bob Marley biopic hits every expected beat with craft and caution. Kingsley Ben-Adir commits fully. The film does not.
Music biopics produced with estate approval follow a formula. The subject overcomes adversity. The music is great. The personal flaws are acknowledged but not examined. The ending is triumphant. Bob Marley: One Love follows this formula with precision. The film focuses on a narrow window of Marley’s life, from the 1976 assassination attempt in Jamaica through the recording of the Exodus album in London. The scope is smart. The execution is safe.
Kingsley Ben-Adir plays Marley with physical transformation and genuine musical energy. He captures the voice and the stage presence without descending into impersonation. The performance has life in it. Lashana Lynch plays Rita Marley with strength and patience. She is a woman who shares her husband with the world and the film gives her enough screen time to register as a person rather than a supporting function. James Norton plays Chris Blackwell, the Island Records founder, with understated business intelligence.
Reinaldo Marcus Green directed King Richard and brings the same competent, respectful approach to biographical material. The film looks good. Jamaica and London are shot with warmth and texture. The music sequences have energy. The assassination attempt is staged with real tension. The problem is what the film avoids. Marley’s Rastafarian beliefs are presented without interrogation. His infidelity is mentioned but not explored. His political radicalism is simplified into feel-good universalism. The film smooths every edge.
This is a biopic made for fans who already love Bob Marley and want to spend two hours feeling good about loving him. It succeeds at that. It does not succeed at revealing anything new about the man or his music or his contradictions. The Marley estate produced this film and it shows. The music is incredible. The man behind it remains at a careful distance.