“Bob Marley: One Love” is directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (We Own This City, King Richard) and stars Kingsley Ben-Adir (Secret Invasion, One Night in Miami…), Lashana Lynch (No Time to Die, Captain Marvel), and James Norton (Happy Valley, Flatliners). This film follows the titular reggae musician in his journey in music and to overcome his difficulties.

When I surf the Internet or have conversations in my social circles, one thing that sometimes comes up just so happens to movie trailers. Specifically, the idea of seeing the same trailer over and over again at the movie theater. I remember a colleague of mine saying that this happened to them for “Argylle.” And I can say that is one I remember seeing quite a bit as well. But if I had to name a trailer or marketing campaign that has done such a thing for me recently, it would be the one for “Bob Marley: One Love.” To be fair, they put the first trailer out months in advance, so it had the opportunity to be shown plenty of times. But almost every time I went to the movies, it flashed on the screen.

Based on the unlimited exposure “Bob Marley: One Love” has given me alone, I hoped it wouldn’t suck. Partially because, well, “Argylle” did. When you play a trailer enough times to equal a short movie, then I kind of hope by the time I see it, I don’t feel duped. That said, the movie did not look like the next big thing, but by no means did it look awful. There was potential between factors such as the story and Ben-Adir playing the lead role.

Unfortunately, when it comes to films about musicians or music in general, this failed to hit the right notes for me.

To be frank though, it made me question my intelligence. I understand a lot of movies. Sometimes I understand movies will mean certain things to certain people. Sometimes I get that art in general can be open-ended. “Bob Marley: One Love” seems for the most part, straightforward, but it reminded me of one of my weak spots. Languages.

I am not saying I refuse to learn or understand foreign languages, what I am saying is that whenever I am tasked with doing so, say for when I was in school, I found it to be incredibly difficult. But I am always thankful whenever movies have subtitles because they help me understand what is going on. “Bob Marley: One Love” is in English, but a lot of it is spoken through Jamaican accents, which I do not usually hear every day. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, I appreciate the authenticity. I just wish, and this harkens back to my struggles, I could have been more engaged with it.

I am NOT asking people from this movie to sound like they’re from Ohio. I am just saying that if I were able to see the future, I probably would have asked for a different fate where I could have subtitles flashing on screen throughout the film. Simple as that. It is sad that an issue like this is detracting from my overall experience, but facts are facts.

Ever since “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture, International Feature during the 2020 edition of the ceremony, there is one quote I have often used in regards to watching certain movies.

“Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” -Bong Joon Ho

That quote specifically applies to foreign flicks or films not mostly executed in my native language, which would be English. But a part of me thought Bong Joon Ho’s quote could be applied to “Bob Marley: One Love” as well. The movie is part of the Hollywood system and heavily marketed to North American audiences, but as I watched the film, I had trouble deciphering some of what’s being said. Now, maybe my hearing is deteriorating. Maybe I watched “Oppenheimer” one too many times and now I’m paying the price. But it is also possible that I just was trying my best to understand every word that was being said by certain characters, and for whatever reason, it just wasn’t coming through. There is nothing wrong with authentic accents or voices that link to a certain part of the world. That said, if I were to go back and watch “Bob Marley: One Love” a second time, which I am probably not going to, I’d want subtitles.

I am going to give props to “Bob Marley: One Love” for perhaps delivering an authentic, lifelike experience when it comes to several characters interacting with each other or talking with one another. But if we are simply going by first impressions, I felt a little lost watching this film. A bit disengaged perhaps. Because for all I know, I could latch onto a number of the conversation scenes during this movie, but I could not pick up on everything the characters are saying. I remember a few years ago when I saw the 2021 remake of “West Side Story” for the first time and they had a few scenes where they had characters speaking in Spanish, and there were no subtitles on screen. For the record, I dropped out of Spanish I in high school a couple weeks into the class, so I’m no expert on the language. But even I got a sense of the context of what was going on without subtitles. Now when I look at “Bob Marley: One Love” it feels weird knowing that I am going from comprehending a language I do not speak, to not getting a clue of what was going on in this movie in English. I know not every movie can be universal to everyone. But my lack of understanding of what was going on through the dialogue severely hindered my experience. It could have been a lot better.

Even with my complaints, I will not deny that Kingsley Ben-Adir was a good pick to play the titular role. I thought he had charisma, pizzazz, and he also looked the part. And it is almost hard to imagine other people filling in the shoes of this role. When it comes to the overall chemistry in the film, Ben-Adir does a good job with latching onto just about every other character in sight. I am not saying this performance is going to win an Oscar, but as far this movie goes, he does a good job. And honestly, while there are no abominable performances in the movie, there are no other real standouts either.

But if there is another standout, I would have to say the soundtrack is sometimes pretty good. Obviously, this is a music-based film so this should not be a huge surprise, but the moments where we end up hearing Marley’s music make the film a tad better.

Although I want to talk about the part of the movie that for me, really let me down. The ending. It is not heartbreaking per se. It is not offensive to other people. It is by no means a crime against humanity. But the best way I can describe this ending, primarily from a filmmaking and cinematic perspective, is “lazy.” Because I came into this movie with a certain expectation, and once we get to the end, once it feels like we are getting to that point, the movie stops and delivers such an expectation in a way that honestly feels slapped together. I do not know how to talk about this moment without saying the words “spoiler alert,” which come to think of it, would be a weird thing to say about a movie based on real people and true events. But as we got to the ending, my pupils lit up, and my dilation nearly became an eyeroll. The movie started, to some degree, getting better. Or so I thought. It put a massive dent on what I already thought was an underwhelming experience.

The potential is there for a good story regarding this material in particular. I think it is a story that could make a figure like Bob Marley attach to a great span of this world. It would get a lot of people to feel bad for him and root for him. But there are so many little things in the movie that left me unsatisfied. The acting is okay, but I just wish I could have been more attached to the characters. Pacing-wise, “Bob Marley: One Love” is an enigma. The movie is somehow too long to catch my absolute interest. Yet as soon there are crevices where something actually manages to catch my interest, it does not take long for the movie to become boring. This movie came out the same weekend as “Madame Web,” which I saw first. “Bob Marley: One Love” is not “Madame Web” bad, but it is still not good.

In the end, “Bob Marley: One Love” is off-key. I was bored. I was disengaged. I wanted to leave. Now, the film is by no means the worst I have ever seen, but there is nothing that stands out about it that makes me want to watch it a second time. As conventional as say, “Bohemian Rhapsody” may appear, I was more engaged with that film and how it handles its characters. I thought it was a story where I could latch on from start to finish. Additionally, as much as I liked Ben-Adir’s lead performance, it is a far cry from Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. “Bob Marley: One Love” tries to take a compelling concept to the finish line. But in terms of execution, I felt it needed to pick up the pace just a bit. Maybe a second viewing with subtitles would make the experience better, but I was not riveted enough in my first viewing to warrant a second viewing. I am going to give “Bob Marley: One Love” a 4/10.

“Bob Marley: One Love” is now playing in theaters and is available to rent or buy on VOD.

Thanks for reading this review! My next review is going to be for my most anticipated movie of 2024, “Dune Part Two.” Does it live up to the hype? You’ll have to wait and see. Also coming soon, I will have reviews for “High Tide,” “Kung Fu Panda 4,” “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” “Snack Shack,” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” If you want to see these reviews and more from Scene Before, follow the blog either with an email or WordPress account! Also, check out the official Facebook page! I want to know, did you see “Bob Marley: One Love?” What did you think about it? Or, who is an artist whose story would make for a good biopic? Let me know down below! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!