I recently took a trip up to Canada for a family event, and on the 3hr flight that turned into a 5hr flight, I decided to watch one of the many films I missed the theatre run for in the last year. So as I sat on the runway for 45 minutes before takeoff watching this film, I found myself fully immersed in the world of Bob Marley’s mission to bring peace to Jamaica and the greater world.
The film was written initially by Cayman local filmmaker Frank E. Flowers - who I’ve been able to work with on set - and follows everyone’s favorite Reggae artist and peace advocate, Bob.
So let’s get into it.
The acting… Wow, magnifique. Really believable performances by everyone. If you’ve seen footage of Bob Marley, you’d probably agree that Kingsley Ben-Adir did a great job capturing his characteristic quirks. Lashana Lynch also gave a stellar performance as Mrs. Marley, bringing to life all the struggle that lay behind Bob’s stardom. I didn’t notice a weak link in the casting.
Peace and love, while the forefront of Bob’s mission, faced challenges not only through the power-hungry warring gangs in Jamaica, but also in Bob's own life, as he dealt with the weight of the pain the Jamaican people were suffering. His mission to bring peace to Jamaica was apparent throughout the film as its central theme.
The writing was solid. It’s a hope-filled film, which is a nice break from today’s typical Hollywood releases. The dialogue feels very natural, as though you’re there sitting in the room while everything unfolds. Really props to Frank E. and the other writers on the project.
Last but certainly not least, the cinematography was beautiful. Very beautiful. The cinematographer, Robert Elswit, who also worked on Salt, Bourne Legacy, Skyscraper, and many others, dove into stylistic filmmaking with this one. In union with the script, it brings about a visually stunning cutaway series representing Bob’s connection to his faith - which I loved - and which made me crave writing something myself… Stay tuned. The overall quality of the cinematography was great; the lighting, the movement, the image quality, all worked in tandem. There was one moment that took me out of the film - a single shot with a cgi plane landing in old London. It was janky at best. But that was 4 seconds out of 1hr 45mins.
I’d be really interested to hear your thoughts on the film. You can watch it on Apple TV or Google Play Movies for a few bucks. I’m interested to see if the film is as good as I think it is, or if it just speaks to people from the Caribbean. Let me know!
I would recommend this film to anyone really. Especially people from the Caribbean, or to music lovers.
Anyways, that’s all I have for now. Thanks for reading, and feel free to to share this post with your friends, and subscribe!
Until next time.
Pax.