Bob Marley is undoubtedly one of the most significant musical and cultural figures. He popularized reggae as well as the Rastafarian movement throughout the world. In his native Jamaica, he fought for democracy and non-violence at the risk of his life. Until his premature death in 1981, he had a great love affair with Rita Marley. The subject of a remarkable documentary in 2012, Bob Marley is now entitled to a biographical drama: Bob Marley: One Love (VF).
In Hollywood, when a studio decides to chronicle the life of a celebrity, the implicit goal is usually to land a few Oscar nominations, especially in the acting department. After the festival selections, these films are usually released between the months of September and December in order to be eligible for the Academy. Conversely, films from which studios do not expect much are generally relegated to the less busy months of January and February, preceding the upturn in March and the start of the film season. blockbusters.
All this to say that, when a film seems in theory to fall into the first category but in practice suffers the treatment reserved for the second, circumspection is required.
And in fact, Bob Marley: One Love, which is released under the Paramount brand, disappoints. Four screenwriters participated in the writing, including director Reinaldo Marcus Green. For the record, we owe the latter King Richard (King Richard, beyond the game), dedicated to the father of Venus and Serena Williams (whether his fate was considered more interesting than that of his illustrious daughters for a film remains a mystery). Yes, we’re talking about the film that allowed Will Smith to receive an Oscar just after his infamous live slap.
This new film has some of the qualities of its predecessor, but has many more flaws, starting with a narrow focus and fragmentary construction.
Indeed, the film focuses solely on the period from 1976 to 1978, covering the assassination attempt on Bob Marley just before the concert Smile Jamaicaexile in England and the recording of the flagship album Exodusthen the final concerts following a cancer diagnosis.
The first part is the least successful, and consists of a historical summary stumbled with abrupt ellipses. Here and there, explanatory flashbacks are integrated with the subtlety of a marker pen. The dialogues with a declamatory tendency are appropriate.
An authorized vision
Produced under the imprimatur of three of the late singer’s eleven children, Bob Marley: One Love furthermore maintains a decidedly hagiographic tone. It’s very, very smooth. Now, precisely, a few rough edges, a few flaws would have revealed more about the man. As it stands, the film paints a somewhat soporific portrait of a saint.
In the title role, the English actor Kingsley Ben-Adir, seen as Malcolm One Night in Miami…, by Regina King, is more about form than substance, like the film. That is to say, the actor masters Marley’s accent as well as his gestures, but the result is more imitation than incarnation. During dramatic passages, we look in vain for emotional depth in Ben-Adir.
More intriguing is Lashana Lynch, seen in Captain Marvel (Captain Marvel) And No Time to Die (Dying can wait), in the role of Rita Marley. Expressive and charismatic, Lynch gives the film its rare moments of truth (the argument where she “reframes” her husband, and the discussion following the disastrous diagnosis). A feat, considering that the scenario gives him very little to do.
Fortunately, there is a lot of music that has rightly gone down in history. A fate that the film is unfortunately not likely to meet Bob Marley: One Love.