To say that I had high hopes for Bob Marley: One Love is a massive understatement. My mother was and still is a huge Bob Marley fan so I grew up with his music as part of my life. My mother was also very into what a special kind of man Bob Marley was I also heard all kinds of stories about his life and the stuff that he did.
How to Download Bob Marley: One Love
Bob Marley: One Love was released on February 14, 2024. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you want to see more movies about musicians, check out Elvis, Rocketman, or Bohemian Rhapsody.
The Movie Review
Also, when we got a CD player, it had to have been in the late 80s, we got a selection of CDs to go with it, and the first CD that I ever held and heard was Legend by Bob Marley. The point I am trying to make is that I am a legit Bob Marley fan and have been since I was a small child.
That is why it sucks for me to say that Bob Marley: One Love is just ok. It is not a bad movie at all, but I felt like they left so much out. Now to be fair, they do focus on a particular part of the Bob Marley story. It is about the peace concert that he wanted to do in order to unite the Jamaican people due to the unrest that was happening. As you probably know, Bob and his wife, Rita (along with others) are shot and he refuses to perform.
We do get bits here and there about different parts of his career. However, the majority of the movie is dedicated to a specific part of the Bob Marley story. I get why they went this route as there was probably too much to have a defining biopic of the man’s life. However, by the end of it, it did make me think that perhaps the Bob Marley story would have been better off being told in the form of a TV show where they would have had more time.
The Lead Performance
Kingsley Ben-Adir who plays Bob Marley is fantastic! The fact that he got a glowing review from my mum is good enough for me. The stuff with him writing in the studio as songs are coming together is amazing and felt like you were watching a Bob Marley documentary. I have heard some people say that he is doing a basic Bob Marley impression, but I could not disagree with that more.
Supporting Performances
I hope that Kingsley Ben-Adir gets some kind of award. While the movie may not have fully clicked with me, his performance certainly did. Speaking of performances, I feel like Lashana Lynch who plays Rita Marley deserves just as much credit. She delivers a powerful, raw, and real performance that in many ways stole the show here. They had great chemistry together and again, I wish we got to see more of them which makes me think a TV show would have been better.
Overall Impressions
You may think that I have been mostly negative here, but Bob Marley: One Love is a good movie. I get why they decided to mainly focus on this one part of his life, but I was left wanting more. This is a movie that I feel I have to see again before I can fully decide what my thoughts on it are. The fact I have already checked to see when this is hitting 4K tells you that I must have at the very least liked it.
