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‘Bob Marley: One Love’ Review: Kingsley Ben-Adir Inhabits the Reggae Legend in a Music Biopic That’s Anything but Revolutionary
Kingsley Ben-Adir Inhabits the reggae legend in a biopic that misses the catharsis of Marley's rise and never quite figures out his journey.
The key evolution, dating back to films like “Capote” and “Lincoln” (and extending through “Oppenheimer”), was the decision to ditch the old cradle-to-grave sprawl in favor of focusing on a crucial time period of someone’s life — a strategy that allows for more texture and truth. It’s about laying bare the contradictions that define Marley — the political militant who is also a utopian pop idol, the family man who depends on Rita yet is anything but faithful to her (he has children by other women), the devout Rastafarian who uses religion, and the Ethiopian guru figure of Haile Salassie, as a substitute for the white British father on horseback who abandoned him. Yet as he centers himself in the exile of London, and as “One Love” turns into a rambling and rather haphazard mid-’70s hang-out movie, the film looks at how Marley evolved into a grander figure, a shaman star whose message of liberation began to transcend national boundaries.
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