Long established as the most successful reggae musician of all-time, Bob Marley gets his biopic due with 2024’s One Love. The film takes us to 1976 at a pivotal time in his life and career.

Political violence rocks Jamaica after the country gains its independence from Great Britain. Native son Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) decides to stage a peace concert to help quell the unrest.

This doesn’t occur without controversy, though, as some pose violent opposition to Marley’s plans. As Marley pushes ahead, he confronts a mix of threats and deals with the aftermath that sends him in “exile” to Europe.

Though that synopsis implies the entire film revolves around Marley circa 1976, this doesn’t prove wholly accurate. Love extends into the future to take us through Marley’s life in 1978, and we also get a smattering of flashbacks to a young Bob.

As I usually note when I review biopics, I generally prefer those that concentrate on a fairly brief period of time. Too many movies in this genre span decades and become a superficial “greatest hits” reel with little insight.

This gave me optimism as I entered Love. Because it essentially focuses on 1976 to 1978, I hoped it would be able to give us a fairly rich look at Marley, even within the constraints of a relatively brief 107-minute running time.

Nope. Despite the choice to mainly stick with a roughly two-year period, Love offers no greater insight than the usual rapid-fire overview.

The main issue stems from the depiction of Marley himself, as he largely remains a cipher. Outside of the flashbacks that hint at the lingering impact of Bob’s youth, the Marley of Love just coasts through the movie with little substance.

As such, we end up with the same kind of “greatest hits” reel that I mentioned mars so many biopics, albeit spread in a shorter time span. We see highlights of Marley’s life and career from 1976 to 1978 and get a hint of the cancer that would kill him in 1981.

But we simply don’t get a sense of what made Marley tick. Perhaps the active involvement of Marley’s children prompted the production to “sanitize” matters and advocate the image of Saint Bob.

Whatever the case, one gets no more insight from Love than one could find via a perusal of Marley’s Wikipedia entry. Though the film pays lip service to deeper issues – mainly via a brief conflict with Bob’s wife Rita (Lashana Lynch) – we just get little meat on the bone.

All the actors do well, and Ben-Adir offers a fine attempt to convey the attitude and spirit of Marley. In a surprisingly small and underwritten part, the talented Lynch adds depth not on the page.

None of this manages to overcome the basic thinness of One Love. While watchable, it provides a surprisingly dull examination of a musical and cultural legend.

Bob Marley: One Love appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Expect a terrific presentation from this Dolby Vision image.

Sharpness remained strong at all times. Nary a sliver of softness ever impacted this tight image.

Neither jaggies nor shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws remained absent.

Though we occasional got some blues and reds, warm orange/amber tones heavily dominated the film. The hues looked full and rich within those choices. HDR added heft and impact to the tones as well.

Blacks felt deep and dense, while shadows appeared smooth and concise. Whites and contrast got a nice boost from HDR. I felt totally pleased with the film’s visuals.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack also fared well. Unsurprisingly, music became the dominant element, as Marley’s songs blossomed to all the channels in a pleasing and active manner.

Otherwise, the track leaned toward general environmental material, and those showed a nice sense of place. The occasional violent scene also added punch to the proceedings.

Audio quality excelled, especially via the music. Score and songs offered terrific range and clarity.

Speech always seemed natural and concise, even if some viewers may want to activate subtitles to decode the Jamaican patois that dominates dialogue. Effects appeared accurate and full. This turned into a highly satisfying mix for a music-based biopic.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? Both came with identical audio.

A native 4K production, the Dolby Vision presentation showed upgrades in terms of sharpness, colors and blacks. As great as the BD looked, the 4K topped it.

We get five featurettes, and Becoming Bob Marley spans seven minutes, 28 seconds. We find notes from producers/children Cedella and Ziggy Marley, director/co-writer Reinaldo Marcus Green, costume designer Anna B. Sheppard, producer Robert Teitel, dialect coach Fae Ellington, and actors Kingsley Ben-Adir and Lashana Lynch.

The show covers Ben-Adir’s performance and physical transformation to play Marley. We find a mix of insights and praise.

The Story goes for seven minutes, 25 seconds. It offers info from Ziggy Marley, Cedella Marley, Green, Ben-Adir, and producer Jeremy Kleiner.

As implied by the title, the featurette discusses the era chosen for the film’s narrative. We don’t get a lot of substance here.

Next comes The Cast. During this nine-minute, 49-second reel, we hear from Green, Ziggy Marley, Ben-Adir, Lynch, Kleiner, and actors James Norton, Ouan-Dajai Henriques, and Nia Ashi.

Unsurprisingly, this one looks at actors, characters and performances. Unsurprisingly, we mostly get happy talk that tells us about the greatness of those involved.

On Location fills eight minutes, 27 seconds. It delivers remarks from Green, Ben-Adir, Lynch, Ziggy Marley, Kleiner, Teitel, Ellington, historical advisor/Bob Marley and the Wailers art director, production designer Chris Lowe, and director of photography Robert Elswit.

Another self-explanatory title, “Location” illustrates the places used for the shoot. Expect another mix of decent facts and superficial blather.

Finally, The Band occupies nine minutes, 50 seconds. Here we locate statements from Green, Ben-Adir, Ziggy Marley, Lynch, actors Anna-Share Blake and Naomi Cowan, and musicians Junior Marvin, Aston Barrett Jr., David Kerr, and Hector Roots Lewis.

This one covers the musicians used in the film. Despite some of the usual happy talk, we get a fairly good view of these performers.

Seven Deleted Scenes and one Extended Scene fill a total of 10 minutes, 23 seconds. Some of these add to our view of young Bob and Rita.

We also get a little more exposition connected to Bob in Europe, including a brief chat with “Mick Jagger”, whereas we simply briefly glimpse Mick in the final cut. Nothing here seems crucial, but a few interesting tidbits emerge.

Because it concentrated on fairly brief period of time in its subject’s life, I hoped Bob Marley: One Love would offer a rich experience. Unfortunately, the end result seems sketchy and superficial. The 4K UHD boasts excellent visuals as well as very good audio and a mediocre set of supplements. While not a terrible biopic, One Love fails to connect in a meaningful manner.

To rate this film visit the prior review of BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE