On February 14th, 2024, Bob Marley’s story of becoming one of the greatest reggae musicians of all time debuted to the world. The movie, Bob Marley: One Love, documents the adversity Marley faced from violence in his homeland to how he used music to become the face of peace and revolution during the 1970’s in Jamaica.

Bob Marley is a Jamaican singer-songwriter born and raised in Nine Miles, St.Ann. He brought reggae music to the Jamaican community during a time of violence. The Democratic socialist people’s party, and the conservative Jamaica Labour Party were deep in political war. Marley used his music to spread peace and prosperity among the country. He eventually formed a singing group called the Wailers, which is now referred to as Bob Marley and the Wailers.

On April 22, 1978, Marley performed his One Love concert. This concert was during the political civil war and shook the nation. His concert was well documented in the movie because they showed the bravery Bob Marley had to perform during such a turbulent time .

The movie well depicted this storyline, and his fight for peace but did not go into enough depth on his rise to fame, and who he truly was as a person. The film has very mixed reviews and a 42% rotten tomato rate, yet it was a hit at the box office. Many critics say the movie was not well executed, not enough, and that Marley deserved better. While I can agree with this, the movie did a good job of giving insight into the war in Jamaica at the time and how Marley’s music helped the Jamaican people. I wish the movie dove deeper into how his music became popular in other countries like the U.S., and more on his fame after the war. More character development and lead-up to his music career was needed to emphasize the impact he made on the world. 

Marley’s son Ziggy Marley responded to the disappointing reviews by saying “ So maybe they’re missing the essence of the thing and what it’s supposed to be instead of what they think it should be”, arguing that it’s not a typical biopic. Regardless of what the movie was supposed to represent, his music continues to bring peace and happiness to people all over the world and this movie could’ve done a better job of documenting that.