Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Bob Nesta Marley: One Love Film Review

Finally!!
My mentor; my writer of scripts and filmmaker extraordinaire; producer of the longest serving series in Jamaica 'Royal Palm Estate', the one and only Lennie Little-White, my brother from another mother, watched Bob Marley One Love last night and this is what he said:

Bob Marley ONE LOVE is a pictorial and musical symphony that hits all the right notes that resonate with me as a filmmaker who has made three full-length theatrical movies.

I went into the cinema-house with a blank piece of paper and left with full storybook. 
 
Without getting into a pedantic, subjective critique which will attract daggers or encomiums, I will give five simple bullet points that encapsulate my overview.
 
Star #1. The unsung hero of this movie is the director Reinaldo Marcus Green - the conductor par excellence of the ONE LOVE symphony.  Green managed to weave an intimate love story, a dramatic essay and a musical tribute into a compelling movie which made me shed many furtive tears.

Green had a brilliant team of writers who made every word in the screenplay catch-a-fire. Bravo!

Star #2: Bob Marley was reincarnated by
Kingsley Ben-Adir who not only mastered a "foreign dialect" but also captured the kinetic physicality of Bob.

Star #3:  Rita Marley is alive and well in the person of Lashana Lynch whose understated sensitivity made the wife occupy the throne.

Star #4:  The Art Directors who created a realistic canvas of what Jamaica really used to look like without any caricatures.

Star #5:  The magnificent cast that made every character real and believable.

The seamless blend of Bob's original vocals with the dramatic interpretation and rendition of Ben-Adir gave the movie gumption that tantalized this viewer.

Those who expected a linear cradle-to-grave movie might have been disappointed but Marley's rich life has many more movies to create.  Until then, leave your prejudices at home and go watch a compelling story with a pulsating reggae soundtrack and a great Jamaican hero.
Bob Marley- ONE LOVE.

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