Bob Marley: One Love

Directed by: Reinaldo Marcus Green

Written by: Terence Winter, Frank E. Flowers, Zach Baylin, Reinaldo Marcus Green.

One Life follows the life of  Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) between the attempted shooting of him and his band in Jamaica, through to his return to the One Love concert in 1978 and attempts to reunite his violently divided homeland. In between it follows the band to England and the recording of the Exodus album. The film touches on his life with his wife Rita (Lashana Lynch), the hugely successful Exodus album European tour and his tragic cancer diagnosis, before returning home to attempt to bring peace.

I went into this now knowing much of Marley’s life, beyond his music. And rather disappointingly I left it not knowing much more about him from this disappointing disjointed and flat telling of the life of a man whose music still remains well known and well loved.

On the plus side, Kingsley Ben-Adir delivers in the central role, inhabiting it wonderfully, from his laid back vocal delivery, to his energetic musical performances. Lashana Lynch underused but does the best with what she has. And of course Marley’s music is there to give you a great soundtrack to enjoy.

But beyond that it all feels a bit surface. The first half is a bit of a jumble, from the shooting through to heading to London, none of the story or decisions seem explored and presents seemingly random events. The second half is better, as we see the creation of Exodus, the interaction with the band and the performances. It only occasionally explores his unknown father, the complexity of his relationships and his religion. But it fails to ever fully explore what should be a fascinating story. And its use of Patois does have you working hard to capture the dialogue.

One Love, considering its subject, is a strangely flat affair. Kingsley Ben-Adir is hugely watchable in the lead role, but sadly the film around him never matches his performance. It all feels a little jumbled and never really gets under the skin on the story. But at least there’s the soundtrack.