Bob Marley: One Love Review!

Bob Marley: One Love captures some of the life and music of Bob Marley in dramatic form! It is directed and co-written by Reinaldo Marcus Green who also directed bio drama, King Richard (2021). The film has a story by Terence Winter, the writer of The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and Frank E. Flowers, the showrunner for the series, The Ropes. They are part of the screenwriting team with Green and Zach Baylin, the writer of King Richard. There is an intro by Ziggy Marley, Bob Marley’s son, he mentons being on the set everyday. Marley is producer. It opens with some humming as we see a family waiting for a bus. This is at Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, 1976. 

There is an explanation of the Jamaican political conflict which was between two political parties, the Jamaican Labour Party and the People’s National Party, they have shattered the country that it is explained was leading toward a civil war. There is a closeup of Bob’s face who is played by Kingsley Ben-Adir. He of course played the Ken who was the right hand Ken to Ryan Gosling’s Ken in Barbie (2023). Ben-Adir does a great performance especially reflecting Marley’s movements while singing and dancing. The songs which just make the film brilliant use Bob Marley’s singing with some of Ben-Adir’s vocals. There are flashes of violence, guns and tanks, which we see during the press conference announcing the Smile concert. 

It is Kingston, Jamaica, 1976 where we see and his band, The Wailers, including Peter Tosh (Alexx A-Game) and Bunny Livingston (Abijah Livingston). They jog to a waterfall, a beach, and then a football field. Soccer in the U.S. They have a game of football with Bob’s two boys, Ziggy (Xavier Woolry) and Stephen (Mekhai Newell) watching. A drive-by has a gunman opening fire with a machine gun at them. Everyone takes cover and no one is hurt. Later, Bob is driving with Stephen and Ziggy and asked about the shooting. He consoles his sons telling them, “Don’t worry”, which of course is inspiration for his song. There is a military blockade, an officer asks Bob to get out of the car, but another recognizes him and sends Bob on his way. 

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