Biopics often introduce us to someone new or reacquaint us with someone we thought we knew, in a personal sense. For me, last year’s “Tetris” provides a thrilling example of the former, while “Bob Marley: One Love” embodies the latter. The key difference between the two: Only one is now in theaters.
By only one, of course, I mean “Bob Marley: One Love,” playing at the Triplex Cinema through
tomorrow. Here is what I liked about it.
First, lead actors Kingsley Ben-Adir and Lashana Lynch in respective roles as Marley and his wife Rita do a great job portraying the couple. And it is worth pointing out that while Bob died over 40 years ago, Rita is very much alive and living in Miami.
Although she suffered a stroke in 2016, reports suggest she has since recovered. Still, if you were an actor, would you rather play someone who lives and breathes or someone who has left this world?
Second, the film focuses on the “One Love Peace Concert” of April 22, 1978. If you are like me, you probably have a vague idea of the political conflict in Jamaica.
While the film does not provide much context for it, scenes of street violence run rampant on screen. To better understand such urban warfare and ideological battles, you can do what one of my current co-workers did. She bought Rita Marley’s memoir, “No Woman, No Cry,” as well as the one his mother co-wrote.
Of course, my colleague knows all about modern Jamaica because she grew up there. But it is not just her: Half my department has seen “Bob Marley: One Love.” The director of case management saw it twice already!
At the same time, I can only imagine what the “One Love Peace Concert” was truly like. Held during a political civil war, it culminated when Marley convinced the nation’s two government rivals to join him onstage after midnight. Together with the Rastafari in the middle, the leaders of the two opposing parties lifted their hands together in a show of men behaving civilly.
Now let’s pause for a moment. Can you picture Taylor Swift bringing Biden and Trump to one of her shows, then holding hands with them while she serenades the crowd and the moment goes viral? Zany!
Third, Bob Marley gets the biopic treatment at a time when at least a dozen documentaries about him are readily available. Yet he was always destined for a biopic. In addition, audiences will appreciate that at least two of his children were directly involved in this production, for which Ziggy and Stephen should be proud.
Fourth, this is a very musical movie. You will hear a lot of Marley’s music. This will continue and peak the next day; resistance is futile. As Bobby McFerrin would say, “don’t worry, be happy.”
Fifth, despite its absence in the film, you should know a few things about Marley’s funeral. For starters, he was given a state funeral in Jamaica attended by over 100,000 people. Here are Ziggy and Stephen at their father’s send-off, which says it all and also says, “Get up, get dressed, and go to the movies”:
