Bob Marley: One Love (2024)
★★★½ — Bob Marley: One Love (2024)
Reinaldo Marcus Green, who earned considerable attention for King Richard (2021), his awards-friendly biopic of Venus and Serena Williams' father, returned to the form here with a project carrying far greater commercial weight behind it. Produced with the full cooperation of the Marley estate through Tuff Gong Pictures (the label Bob Marley founded in Kingston in 1965), the film had authorised access that few music biopics enjoy, though that approval inevitably raises questions about what gets left out. Paramount backed it to the tune of $70 million, a substantial bet on a subject whose catalogue remains one of the best-selling in recorded music history. Kingsley Ben-Adir, previously notable for playing Barack Obama in The Comey Rule (2020), takes the lead role alongside Lashana Lynch as Rita Marley.
Bob Marley: One Love, despite its noble intentions and a few powerful moments, feels like a missed opportunity to truly honour the depth and spirit of an icon. Ben Kingsley gives a dignified performance as Bob Marley but as a man who just CANNOT be emulated it ultimately fell flat. There’s one scene (Selassie reaching out his hand toward the camera) that absolutely wrecked me. As someone who’s lived by his teachings for decades, that moment wasn’t just cinematic, it was spiritual. I felt it in my chest. It brought tears to my eyes. But beyond that, the film struggles. So much of Bob’s life, the complexity of his faith, the fire of his activism, the pain of exile, the politics of Exodus, the roots of Rastafari, is glossed over or simplified into Hollywood-safe soundbites. The pacing rushes through pivotal moments like they’re checking boxes: “reggae hits,” “near-death assassination,” “Zimbabwe independence concert.” Where’s the soul? Where’s the revolution? You can’t capture a man like Bob Marley with surface-level reverence, he was a prophet, a rebel, a mystic, and reducing him to a sectional biopic does him a disservice. The music is incredible (how could it not be?), and Kingsley tries, but the story lacks truth, nuance, and real emotional weight. It’s polished, respectful, and ultimately hollow. You can’t emulate an enigma, you can only try to understand him. This film doesn’t go deep enough.
Rating: ★★★½ | Year: 2024 | Watched: 2025-09-18
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads
Rent: Amazon Video
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK
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