Sandwiched in the schedules between Bradley Cooper's Leonard Bernstein tribute Maestro and the Amy Winehouse story Back to Black is this decades-in-the-making portrait of a global icon. If timing is indeed everything, then hanging around for 40-plus years has seen the producers of Bob Marley: One Love - including the late singer's widow Rita and children Ziggy and Cedella - find the right man for the job in British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir. Sadly, the film is way too short (and sweet) to make the most of his talents and do full justice to the complex man at its centre.
Director Reinaldo Marcus Green hones in on the key period of 1976-1978 when Marley survived an assassination attempt in his native Jamaica, lived in exile in London, made the classic Exodus album, became a major international star, was diagnosed with the cancer that would ultimately kill him, and returned home to headline a peace concert in a bid to put an end to his homeland's political violence. With that much to fit in, the film needs to be pacy. It is - it's also a bit like a showreel with an amazing soundtrack and an aversion to delving into subject matter that would threaten a 12A cert.
Green has considerable true story clout, having already made the man-on-a-mission road movie Joe Bell, the Baltimore crime miniseries We Own This City, and, most notably, King Richard, the charmer that won Will Smith his Oscar for his portrayal of Venus and Serena Williams' father. Ben-Adir has quite the CV too, as he's previously portrayed Malcolm X in One Night in Miami and Barack Obama in The Comey Rule. Opposite him here is Bond and Marvel star Lashana Lynch as Rita Marley. That's quite the trio, so the 104-minute running time is a bit of a mystery, especially when the chemistry between Ben-Adir and the excellent-but-underused Lynch is there. With fewer seismic events to depict, King Richard was 41 minutes longer. This film could have added another hour and still not outstayed its welcome.
Ultimately, Bob Marley: One Love is a watchable-if-flatpack offering. The duration and cert would appear to be concessions to younger audiences and the desire to be a primer - musically, culturally, and politically - for them. The wait (hopefully not in vain) for that definitive biopic continues. In the meantime, take a look at Kevin Macdonald's feature documentary Marley, clocking in at 145 minutes.
