As "Bob Marley: One Love" (2024 release; 104 min) opens, it is "1976 Kingston", In the leadup to a peace concert where Marley will try to unite the country, Bob and Rita Marley are wounded by would-be assassins. Deeply shaken, Marley and his band move to London. At this point we are 15 minutes into the movie.
Couple of comments: the film is directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green ("King Richard"). More importantly, the movie is produced by Ziggy Markey and the Marley estate. This means there is barely anything in the movie that might reflect poorly on Bob Marley. The reality is quite a bit different, as amply demonstrated in the outstanding 2012 documentary "Marley". The contract between the 2024 fictious film and the 2012 documentary could not be starker. Not all is off with the 2024 film. Even thought it doesn't bring a true picture of the complicated relationship between Bob and Rita, the performance by Lashana Lynch as Rita is strong and convincing. The same cannot be said of Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob. And then of course there is the outstanding music, which is littered throughout the movie.
"Bob Marley: One Love" premiered in US theaters this weekend. The Sunday matinee performance where I saw this at was attended amazingly well (I'm guessing more than 50 people in the theater). Nevertheless, there is good reason why "Bob Marley: One Love" is currently rated just 43% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, while the 2012 documentary "Marley" is rated 96% Certified Fresh.
Couple of comments: the film is directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green ("King Richard"). More importantly, the movie is produced by Ziggy Markey and the Marley estate. This means there is barely anything in the movie that might reflect poorly on Bob Marley. The reality is quite a bit different, as amply demonstrated in the outstanding 2012 documentary "Marley". The contract between the 2024 fictious film and the 2012 documentary could not be starker. Not all is off with the 2024 film. Even thought it doesn't bring a true picture of the complicated relationship between Bob and Rita, the performance by Lashana Lynch as Rita is strong and convincing. The same cannot be said of Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob. And then of course there is the outstanding music, which is littered throughout the movie.
"Bob Marley: One Love" premiered in US theaters this weekend. The Sunday matinee performance where I saw this at was attended amazingly well (I'm guessing more than 50 people in the theater). Nevertheless, there is good reason why "Bob Marley: One Love" is currently rated just 43% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, while the 2012 documentary "Marley" is rated 96% Certified Fresh.