Bob Marley movie gets a Meghan Markle-Prince Harry boost
Bob Marley: One Love debuts in theaters in the doldrums of February, and Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are unlikely to improve its chances
Aux News Meghan Markle
Studios don’t release their best stuff at the beginning of the year. This is a well-known, long-standing truth. There may be breakout exceptions, but given January and February’s reputation as “dump months,” any film released in that period is a sign that the powers that be don’t have much confidence in its potential. All this to say, it’s not looking good for Bob Marley: One Love, which releases on February 14. But before calling time of death, it appears Paramount wanted to give the movie one last jolt of energy by holding a star-studded premiere in Jamaica and inviting… Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, for some reason?
The reason given to People, at least, is that Paramount Pictures president and CEO Brian Robbins invited them, and the ex-royal couple has “a personal friendship” with the Robbins family. It’s an easy bit of promo for Paramount, because anywhere Harry and Meghan go, so too will The Daily Mail’s body language expert to analyze their every move. And for Harry and Meghan, beyond the selfless joy of supporting a friend, they keep their toe in the waters of the entertainment industry, which is where they have historically wanted to be since leaving the royal life behind.
Nevertheless, the Bob Marley movie is an odd place to trade in on the couple’s cultural cachet. Not just because One Love is a random February release, but also because there’s a pretty thorny history of colonialism between the United Kingdom and Jamaica. In fact, the country is scheduled to hold a referendum this year about exiting the commonwealth (via The New York Times), and Prime Minister Andrew Holness has outright expressed a desire to bring Jamaica out of England’s shadow. So, there’s a somewhat political aspect to Harry and Markle posing for pictures with Holness on the movie’s red carpet (but perhaps people who cut ties with the monarchy tend to stick together).
As for the actual movie, it had all the hallmarks of a classic Oscar-bait music biopic, particularly its buzzy leads Kingsley Ben-Adir and Lashana Lynch. Unfortunately, the movie simply doesn’t look very good. Or maybe it’s just that Ben-Adir’s wig is so egregious that it consigned the entire film to the cinematic graveyard. Whatever the case, Harry and Meghan’s presence at the premiere is unlikely to do more than give the film a mild press bump, so this may be the last you ever hear of One Love.
22 Comments
It’s that bad, huh?
I just read that Harry’s fave move is The Lion King and Meghan’s is The Little Mermaid so, yes, probably.
Well, if Meghan and Harry like it, purple monkey dishwasher!
I was at the Evil Genius brewery last year, they have a lot more normal beers on tap than I thought they would.
Porter is such an interesting brew on its own. Why do brewers insist on layering in so many other flavors? Chocolate and coffee in moderation, okay, but peanut butter? Peppermint?
Yeah, honestly….I like my beer to taste like beer. It doesn’t need dessert toppings.
It’s why the milkshake IPA craze never worked for me, as much as I love me an IPA.
Is this the movie about the troubled genius musician whose meteoric rise to fame was tempered by personal demons and drama in his romantic relationships?Sounds super unique! Can’t wait to see it!
He also got shot and performed a benefit show anyway. I’d like to see Elton John do that!
All of these musicians are amazing and lived fascinating lives. But the music biopic meat grinder pulverizes their humanity down into the same exact cinematic McDonald’s burger every time.The fact that we can predict EXACTLY how that shooting will play out in the movie tells you all you need to know.Weirdly, I thought the first half of Rocketman was actually better than most of this crap, entirely because they filmed it like an actual musical with big, fun surreal music numbers. Then, of course, Elton developed a drug addiction and the movie turned into the same old humdrum thing that Walk Hard should have killed years ago.
I thought Rocketman was fabulous, from beginning to end. And the man was a serious addict – it’s a fundamental part of his story. The entire movie sits inside the framework of his attendance at an AA meeting, so that everything he procedes to narrate is going to be more than a little wild. Form meets function. It’s genius.
Well, if they give any attention to his end years, where he developed cancer but resisted modern medical care in favor of more holistic care, that might be a switch.
Lol, you’re so provocative. Now I’m lining up every musician pre-1980 and wondering if they could do the same. Elvis? Johnny Cash (well, he shot a guy), Lennon? Oh, wait.
Actually, it’s about some Jamaican guy who had, like, nineteen kids.
Anyone who saw The King’s Speech might remember that famous line delivered by Michael Gambon’s Geroge V before a radio address: “Now we must invade people’s homes and ingratiate ourselves with them. This family is reduced to those lowest, basest of all creatures… we’ve become… actors!”I don’t know if this is historically accurate, but they were keenly ready for the cameras ever since. Harry + Meghan is just the eventual manifestation of that prediction.
I wish the actor resembled Marley more closely. He had such unique, mature features. His mother was Jamaican and maybe you can see some Taino Indian influence (I know, genetics aren’t a monolith)? Idk, the actor looks at little too GenZ squee. The trailer isn’t inspiring.
I’m not sure “ex-royal” is the right term for them. Exiled royalty, maybe, but Harry’s still 5th in line to the throne – it would take an Act of Parliament to remove him from the succession.
I had no interest in a good Marley movie – and the trailers don’t look like they achieved even that.
o no. yuck. well, it’s about as ‘good’ as i expected it to be.
side note: if anyone wants an actual creative take on the bob marley shooting, i recommend ‘a brief history of seven killings’ by marlon james.
Heading to Jamaica in January isn’t a hard sell, royals or not.
as with any music biopic, I’d rather just watch a good documentary on the subject.