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BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE

Starring: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, and James Norton
Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green

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AMARÚ

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There’s a soul to Bob Marley: One Love that couldn’t be contained, even amongst a disjointed plot and surface-level storytelling. The film starts too late into the Marley’s (Kingsley Ben-Adir & Lashana Lynch) life, which results in an ending that feels like there is much more to tell. That said, once Ben-Adir and Lynch grab hold of the narrative with performances that carry the full dramatic weight, the care to authentically portray the real-life couple and their unifying message burns with a fire as strong as Bob’s once-in-a-lifetime album, Exodus. There’s a lot this movie could’ve done to elevate itself, but it will still leave you feeling uplifted.

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ADRIANO

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I was cautiously optimistic for Bob Marley: One Love, and while the movie sets up an interesting story, it very quickly turns into an unfocused machine of musical biopic clichés. Kingsley Ben-Adir gives a fantastic performance as Marley, but the film doesn't get to much of what made Marley such a pivotal part of history, so the image they present of him is a very dull one. I can tell that there was some real love for the subject at hand, but something was lost in translation. The final result is way too uninspired for its extraordinary subject.

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PRESTON

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I love Bob Marley and his music, I appreciate the timeless messages he proffers, and I am a huge reggae fan, but Bob Marley: One Love unfortunately falls short of its potential. The movie could have been so much more, but it plays like a dull, extended montage where the music (thankfully spread throughout) and the real-life snippets at the end are the only real reward. Outside of the main protagonists, the acting is uninspired and the storytelling is so surface-level that I somehow found it hard to care about a story that I already care about!

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