Bob Marley: One Love is another in a long line of stellar musical biopics that have come down the pipe over the last few decades. Elvis, Ray, and Walk the Line, among many others, have come out. These are about a who’s who of musical greats of the past. With the inspirational music of Bob Marley at its core throughout the movie, this one is another very emotionally musical biopic.

Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben Adir, One Night In Miami, Barbie) is caught in the middle between two warring factions in the little island nation of Jamaica. His reggae music sets him apart from his countrymen but when a rogue gunman comes and shoots him, his wife and his manager he is forced to leave the country and people he loves behind. After years of strife, he plans to  come back and do a concert to unite his people.

Marley has support from his wife Rita (Lashana Lynch Captain Marvel) but she is caught in the crossfire and wonders what her future is going to be besides the Rastaman.  She sees he’s in a difficult spot and time in his life. It’s not just about this music. It’s about what he represents as a symbol for his people. The music helps though so while everything is going on he’s making a new record Exodus. Which was touted as the greatest album of the 20th century.

Throughout the film, Reinaldo Marcus Green has put the music of Marley in key moments that give them a lot of emotional heft. Songs such as Jammin, You Could Be Loved, and the most influential song of his career Is Redemption Song. When this song comes up in the film it’s a while. His story goes through a lot of ups and downs and this moment brought me to tears when it finally happened.  

Marley represented a way of life but he was a symbol for his people. The Rastaman lifestyle is who he is and it’s about being one with the music and smoke. The 70s were a tough time for a lot of people and Jamaica was trying to break away from Great Britain but they needed to have an identity of their own away from the world power England. Using this lifestyle they could understand how they can stand apart from other nations.

Reinaldo Marcus Green and Ziggy Marley, the son of the great reggae music icon, made a conscious effort to focus on the music while putting character development on the back burner. The only two characters with much depth to them were Adhir’s Marley and Lynch’s Rita. The supporting characters don’t get much more than a few scenes talking with Marley or showing their true colors of what they represent. Which isn’t what Marley wants to be known for. His mind is about uniting people together.

Kingsley Ben Adir hasn’t been on the scene for a while but he’s played some icons in his short career. Among them are Barack Obama, in The Comey Rule, Malcolm X, in One Night In Miami, and now Bob Marley in this biopic. Three icons of Black history. One for civil rights, one for uniting a divided nation, and one for a musical icon. Three distinctly different people with a similar goal. Bring people together for a common good. That’s what ties these roles together and Adhir kills all of them. He is going to win awards in the future and he may even get nominated for this truly transcendent performance. The fact remains though he is a great actor with a bright future on his hands despite being in Barbie.

From a script from Terance Winter and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, who already made a great biopic a couple of years ago, King Richard, Bob Marley: One Love brings emotion through this musical icon. Along with Lynch playing his wife Adhir gives an Oscar worthy performance. The music which is strewn throughout the movie represents this man, film and lifestyle he wanted people to see. The film doesn’t do as much character development for other characters but it’s not named after them it’s named after the Rastaman himself Bob Marley. With that in mind it accomplishes its goals of being an emotionally charged musical biopic.

4 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen