LIKES:
The Makeup/Costumes -We take a trip back to the 70s and 80s for this film and the fashion of the decades helps to get one into the moment of Bob's world.
-Ben-Adir's makeup alone is sensational alone, the hair, the facial profile, the look to give his cheekbones and patterns that Marley glow was all awesome for a nerd like me.
-And add that Marley fashion sense and you have accomplished much to bring out that feel of watching a fantastic replica of the master Reggae man.
The Portrayal Of His Spirit -Even better than the physical portrayal is a fantastic performance to give the heart and soul of Marley for the modern era.
-The movie really focuses on so much of this man's integrity and spirit, the way he tried to keep peace and unite the world, and yet also face the fear plaguing him.
-Powerful shots with a great writing set up so much in Adir getting to flesh out that soulful rhythm, and yet never treads too far into trying too hard to be the character.
-The movie accomplishes much to really convey the message of hope and unity, but never making the character invincible or overpowered to do it.
Loved The Writing/Dialogue At Times -The lines sell much of the attitude of Marley and the complexity of an artist he was and the struggles he faced in his rise to the status he held.
-Quippy one liners and poetic monologues truly helped add that soul surfer aspect, stern and disciplined, but yet friendly and fiery all the same to shape that figurehead he would become.
-And then when the banter between he and his bandmates comes in, those lines only become more powerful and fun, establishing that family dynamic I love to see in band movies.
-While the more emotional and hardship scenes provide that Hollywood magic I love, making the heated argument something of a motivational moment, with powerful lines to help support it.
Acting -I've already said much of the acting, but the lead role (a majority of the film) is carried by Ben-Adir, who gets so much of the mimicry of Marley in words, movements, and looks that it is shocking to think how much he studied. He continues to hammer out the roles to artisan levels and really bring every character some level of depth I did not anticipate.
-Lynch is a powerful supporting actress, strong in her emotional play, controlled in her actions, and has a solid command of making a character come alive and do more than simply just be there. As Rita, she has a dynamic flare that is admirable, with some of my favorite pieces from her, especially the back-alley scene. Her chemistry with Adir is phenomenal, and just needed more time in my opinion.
-And Norton, well he has some good moments and the finesse of the manager role, but just didn't get to engage or bring the full performance out to really sing praises.
The Music -By far the biggest selling point is the music of Marley. Fans are sure to enjoy the numbers and the recreation/integration of some of his songs and the numbers that we get.
-The message and the spiritual movement are ever-present in the inclusion of the pieces and seeing that power presence of feelings, love, and torment at times just helps add stakes and a hook to invest my time in.
-Seeing some of the songs being made and the album cover further peaked my interests in the nerd style of mine and wished I could have seen a little more of this than some of the other factors.
-And of course, seeing some of the concert numbers and the effects on Marley was a cool touch as well, a supposed homage to the wishes of the man per his son that help visualize the terror.
DISLIKES:
The Pacing: -Here is where things get messy for me for this film -The Pacing of One Love is a little erratic and perhaps too quick given what the trailers sort of painted this film would be.
-Marley did and had a lot of things happen to him, and to try and cram much of it in under two hours was an impossible challenge.
-For this movie, I felt we were ping-ponging all over the place, very brash clips of his life, challenges, and time rising, with the supposed main event lingering in the background.
-Various montages filled much of the film's musical moments, clips of his songs, while other elements of character development seemed rush and just snippets.
-That family factor and banter help to ease some of the strain, but Marley's movie moves mega fast and just lacks a certain bite I had hoped this movie would hold.
-Given Jersey Boys, Get Up Off of That Thing and Bohemian, I'm spoiled to more fleshed out pieces and Marley's film just lacked some of that finesse and balance in presentation that others have had
Other Characters Not Having Time To Develop -Bob and Rita get great development and focus, which is no surprise given the movie is much about them.
-However, there are other characters that are a part of their lives that get a lot of mention in words, but then sort of flop on screen for me.
-One Love: Is laden with extras and secondary characters who were supposedly big in the man's life, and yet... I barely got to see them interact outside of some jam sessions and smoking weed.
-His agent, his manager, some of the girls with his wife, his best bandmate, and kids all felt like just add-ons to give glimpses of his life's focus, but never really incorporate them like others do.
-It just makes the movie a bit less special and blander, with only the dive into Marley's soul as the sustenance for a very complex character.
More Of The Musical Numbers -Again, I've been spoiled by Bohemian Rhapsody and how much of the music I got for my buck with full numbers, the entire track, and creation process.
-One Love, not so much. The music is there with the message, but the complete tracks, the dive into the creation process, or the strategic placement of the numbers is minimal for a reviewer like me.
-I had hoped for that blend of movie magic and realism pulled to give you that sensational experience and make you want to watch the clips on YouTube over and over again.
-And yet, I don't think I had anything feel that powerful in this movie, a huge disappointment given how others have put at least two songs that were spectacles for me.
The Repetitive Sequence -Using a scene over and over again to try and personify a metaphor, a memory, or a process can be good, but in my experience often does little good.
-One Love has a scene to show his healing soul, but the gradual addition does little for me and gets annoying when it could have been done another way and filled with something else.
-This sequence's repetition gets old very quickly for me and perhaps cutting down to two or three times and adding more to the puzzle would go a long way than this slow and drawn-out symbolism.
Some of the Talking/Sound Editing In My showing -Some of the dialogue was hard to follow in my theater showing. Maybe due to the speakers, the dialect, or both, there were some mumbled versions and dialogue that were difficult to follow -Much of the movie is fortunately understandable, and these hard to interpret parts were often side stories than the main tale, so missing out did little in the movie overall.
-Yet, it also makes this limitation more annoying as this extra jumble was just not as much fun or necessary if they had stuck to something better.
The VERDICT This music biopic has the soul, spirit, and mellowness of the great Marley. A fantastic performance by a leading cast with the tricks of the trade to bring the physical appearance to code, this movie accomplishes much in the look and feel of Marley. Showing his impact, the pressures, and the struggles was nice, and I appreciate the dive into the Reggae king with what he had to do in his time and why he stood up against the political affairs happening. And yet, the movie still falls short for what I expected the film to be, too chopped up, condensed and artistic than other biopics that are higher on my list. The character integration is rather bland, the story flow is faster and erratic, relying on montages to do the lifting than the true build, and some approaches in presentation and artistic choices sort of got in the way for a viewer like me. I had hoped for more musical prowess in this film, but alas, to cram a major figurehead's life to under 2 hours, this is the risk you take instead of doing a limited series run. With all this in mind, the movie is best left for home viewing in my opinion, and with that my scores are:
Biography/Drama/Music: 6.5 Movie Overall: 6.0.
The Makeup/Costumes -We take a trip back to the 70s and 80s for this film and the fashion of the decades helps to get one into the moment of Bob's world.
-Ben-Adir's makeup alone is sensational alone, the hair, the facial profile, the look to give his cheekbones and patterns that Marley glow was all awesome for a nerd like me.
-And add that Marley fashion sense and you have accomplished much to bring out that feel of watching a fantastic replica of the master Reggae man.
The Portrayal Of His Spirit -Even better than the physical portrayal is a fantastic performance to give the heart and soul of Marley for the modern era.
-The movie really focuses on so much of this man's integrity and spirit, the way he tried to keep peace and unite the world, and yet also face the fear plaguing him.
-Powerful shots with a great writing set up so much in Adir getting to flesh out that soulful rhythm, and yet never treads too far into trying too hard to be the character.
-The movie accomplishes much to really convey the message of hope and unity, but never making the character invincible or overpowered to do it.
Loved The Writing/Dialogue At Times -The lines sell much of the attitude of Marley and the complexity of an artist he was and the struggles he faced in his rise to the status he held.
-Quippy one liners and poetic monologues truly helped add that soul surfer aspect, stern and disciplined, but yet friendly and fiery all the same to shape that figurehead he would become.
-And then when the banter between he and his bandmates comes in, those lines only become more powerful and fun, establishing that family dynamic I love to see in band movies.
-While the more emotional and hardship scenes provide that Hollywood magic I love, making the heated argument something of a motivational moment, with powerful lines to help support it.
Acting -I've already said much of the acting, but the lead role (a majority of the film) is carried by Ben-Adir, who gets so much of the mimicry of Marley in words, movements, and looks that it is shocking to think how much he studied. He continues to hammer out the roles to artisan levels and really bring every character some level of depth I did not anticipate.
-Lynch is a powerful supporting actress, strong in her emotional play, controlled in her actions, and has a solid command of making a character come alive and do more than simply just be there. As Rita, she has a dynamic flare that is admirable, with some of my favorite pieces from her, especially the back-alley scene. Her chemistry with Adir is phenomenal, and just needed more time in my opinion.
-And Norton, well he has some good moments and the finesse of the manager role, but just didn't get to engage or bring the full performance out to really sing praises.
The Music -By far the biggest selling point is the music of Marley. Fans are sure to enjoy the numbers and the recreation/integration of some of his songs and the numbers that we get.
-The message and the spiritual movement are ever-present in the inclusion of the pieces and seeing that power presence of feelings, love, and torment at times just helps add stakes and a hook to invest my time in.
-Seeing some of the songs being made and the album cover further peaked my interests in the nerd style of mine and wished I could have seen a little more of this than some of the other factors.
-And of course, seeing some of the concert numbers and the effects on Marley was a cool touch as well, a supposed homage to the wishes of the man per his son that help visualize the terror.
DISLIKES:
The Pacing: -Here is where things get messy for me for this film -The Pacing of One Love is a little erratic and perhaps too quick given what the trailers sort of painted this film would be.
-Marley did and had a lot of things happen to him, and to try and cram much of it in under two hours was an impossible challenge.
-For this movie, I felt we were ping-ponging all over the place, very brash clips of his life, challenges, and time rising, with the supposed main event lingering in the background.
-Various montages filled much of the film's musical moments, clips of his songs, while other elements of character development seemed rush and just snippets.
-That family factor and banter help to ease some of the strain, but Marley's movie moves mega fast and just lacks a certain bite I had hoped this movie would hold.
-Given Jersey Boys, Get Up Off of That Thing and Bohemian, I'm spoiled to more fleshed out pieces and Marley's film just lacked some of that finesse and balance in presentation that others have had
Other Characters Not Having Time To Develop -Bob and Rita get great development and focus, which is no surprise given the movie is much about them.
-However, there are other characters that are a part of their lives that get a lot of mention in words, but then sort of flop on screen for me.
-One Love: Is laden with extras and secondary characters who were supposedly big in the man's life, and yet... I barely got to see them interact outside of some jam sessions and smoking weed.
-His agent, his manager, some of the girls with his wife, his best bandmate, and kids all felt like just add-ons to give glimpses of his life's focus, but never really incorporate them like others do.
-It just makes the movie a bit less special and blander, with only the dive into Marley's soul as the sustenance for a very complex character.
More Of The Musical Numbers -Again, I've been spoiled by Bohemian Rhapsody and how much of the music I got for my buck with full numbers, the entire track, and creation process.
-One Love, not so much. The music is there with the message, but the complete tracks, the dive into the creation process, or the strategic placement of the numbers is minimal for a reviewer like me.
-I had hoped for that blend of movie magic and realism pulled to give you that sensational experience and make you want to watch the clips on YouTube over and over again.
-And yet, I don't think I had anything feel that powerful in this movie, a huge disappointment given how others have put at least two songs that were spectacles for me.
The Repetitive Sequence -Using a scene over and over again to try and personify a metaphor, a memory, or a process can be good, but in my experience often does little good.
-One Love has a scene to show his healing soul, but the gradual addition does little for me and gets annoying when it could have been done another way and filled with something else.
-This sequence's repetition gets old very quickly for me and perhaps cutting down to two or three times and adding more to the puzzle would go a long way than this slow and drawn-out symbolism.
Some of the Talking/Sound Editing In My showing -Some of the dialogue was hard to follow in my theater showing. Maybe due to the speakers, the dialect, or both, there were some mumbled versions and dialogue that were difficult to follow -Much of the movie is fortunately understandable, and these hard to interpret parts were often side stories than the main tale, so missing out did little in the movie overall.
-Yet, it also makes this limitation more annoying as this extra jumble was just not as much fun or necessary if they had stuck to something better.
The VERDICT This music biopic has the soul, spirit, and mellowness of the great Marley. A fantastic performance by a leading cast with the tricks of the trade to bring the physical appearance to code, this movie accomplishes much in the look and feel of Marley. Showing his impact, the pressures, and the struggles was nice, and I appreciate the dive into the Reggae king with what he had to do in his time and why he stood up against the political affairs happening. And yet, the movie still falls short for what I expected the film to be, too chopped up, condensed and artistic than other biopics that are higher on my list. The character integration is rather bland, the story flow is faster and erratic, relying on montages to do the lifting than the true build, and some approaches in presentation and artistic choices sort of got in the way for a viewer like me. I had hoped for more musical prowess in this film, but alas, to cram a major figurehead's life to under 2 hours, this is the risk you take instead of doing a limited series run. With all this in mind, the movie is best left for home viewing in my opinion, and with that my scores are:
Biography/Drama/Music: 6.5 Movie Overall: 6.0.