Rating: 4/5 stars

After watching “Bob Marley: One Love,” it is astonishing that there have only been two other films about him. Incredibly, the movie was first released in Jamaica on Jan. 23 and then in the United States on Feb. 14, deservingly so because Marley nearly single-handedly united Jamaica’s people and prevented a civil war in 1978, making him a crucial figure in Jamaica’s history. 

Produced by the Marley family, the movie follows a certain part of Bob Marley’s (Kingsley Ben-Adir, “One Night in Miami…”) life: the years following the attempt on his and his family’s lives. The film explores not only Marley’s incredible music journey but also the incredible support system he had behind him: the rest of his band. 

One of the things that made this biopic so excellent was its storytelling; it highlighted all the aspects of Marley’s life that contributed to his wanting to be a peaceful musician. Political violence is a main theme in Marley’s music, a reflection of his real life. The movie focused on his album “Exodus,” which he recorded when he moved his family away from Jamaica. Marley released the album while he was living in London in 1977. “Exodus” guided the plotline by telling how Rastafarianism influenced Marley’s ideology and music. 

The plot digs into the brutality of gang violence in Jamaica, Marley experiencing it himself in the form of an assassination attempt on his life. The entire movie in itself almost resembles a superhero movie: a man with a very special gift and a band of loyal members come together to spread the word of love and peace with music and face near death for it. After the attempt, Marley was forced to move to London for two years and move his wife and children to Delaware. However, it seems that threats to his life were not enough to shake Marley. He knew that reggae was meant to speak to people, even if they would not listen for the first time. It is not just Marley’s music that speaks to people, but his background of the violence he faced, his living conditions as a child and growing up without both parents, which are relatable to people who grew up in Jamaica. 

A musician with such an influence on an entire Nation of people deserves to have their story told, and Bob Marley’s family did an excellent job of retelling his story. The personal information given by his family is what made the movie feel more authentic. The film felt like we were a fly on the wall watching Marley’s life unfold. We should have seen more than the part of Marley’s life that centered around the development of “Exodus” and that there were a few more accuracies, such as the movie portraying “Exodus” as a eureka moment for Marley and not something he had been forming in his mind. Of course, to the credit of the producers, it is very difficult to show a lifetime in the span of a feature film. 

Overall, it was a great watch and worth the trip to the theater.

Image from Chiabella James via EPK