The highly anticipated motion picture about Bob Marley has not at all been well received by critics.
According to the reggae legend’s son, Ziggy, the mission of the Bob Marley: One Love movie was to bring people together and share his famous father’s message of unity.
Given its harsh reviews, it appears that that the film’s intent seems to have been a lack luster exercise. And according to countless reviews, the movie that was made with the full cooperation of Bob’s family, seems too reverent of its subject to be truly engaging.
In an interview with CBC News, director Reinaldo Marcus Green said “Bob’s music, his message, it’s what we grew up on.” “I think Ziggy said it best: ‘Bob wasn’t a perfect man, but he had a perfect purpose.’ I think that that’s what this film’s about.”
It appears that the Marley family’s passion for that purpose appears to have ruffled critics’ feathers.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote “This is a reverent Hallmark Channel-type film.” “There’s hardly a relative here without an associate producer credit — and of course it has all the musical rights.”
The Washington Post’s Michael O’Sullivan described the film as “an effort to render Marley’s story in more messianic terms: His music, we’re told, was not just something to get high to … but a gospel-like message of unity, peace and love.”
And Owen Gleiberman of Variety simply said “One Love flirts with complexity but slides into the banality of hero worship.”
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Eddie Mallin