“Bob Marley: One Love,” directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, demonstrates the importance of peace, unity and freedom through reggae music. The movie follows Bob Marley and The Wailers in 1977 trying to obtain peace within Jamaica while the country is on the brink of a civil war.
The movie follows the trials and tribulations of Marley’s life while trying to spread messages of harmony and love. To unite Jamaica as one, he proceeds with a concert, despite negative feedback from many people.
Kingsley Ben-Adir, who plays Marley, portrays the significance of calmness and forgiveness through his embodiment of the reggae musician, with the song lyrics and his tranquil essence. The movie was touching while also being educational on the circumstances of Jamaica at the time. Despite the shootings and aggression that were occurring in Jamaica, Marley encouraged the country to find amity. Although Marley himself, along with his family, was the victim of a shooting, he demonstrated forgiveness and continued on with his concert.
Bob and his wife Rita were portrayed unbelievably well; their acting was very pure and real. While their acting was admirable, their Jamaican accents are very strong and I found subtitles necessary to follow the storyline more easily. Throughout the movie, I found myself wondering what was going on because I was trying to understand what they had just said. An example of a plot point I had trouble following was when there was reference to Marley’s manager embezzling money and then Marley proceeded to punch him later on. There was not much context provided to that scene, so it was somewhat confusing. However, I understand that authenticity does not need to be sacrificed at the expense of my own understanding.
The plot and message of the movie were inspiring, but I went into the theater hoping to receive some more exposure of Marley’s personal life story. The film was merely a brief glimpse of his life focused on a certain point of his fame, making it feel as though something was missing. Despite this, the movie really shows what a true artist Marley was by communicating peace and beauty through his songs. The message of coming together as one love was clear and adamant throughout the conflict and climax of the movie.
While there were many highlights to the film, the movie was expected to be of high quality and those expectations were not fully met.
