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‘Devotion’ Review: An Airman in Reflection

Jonathan Majors stars as the U.S. Navy’s first Black aviator in this drama from J.D. Dillard.

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Two Navy airmen, in white uniform, at a bar talking.

By Amy Nicholson

“Devotion,” directed by J.D. Dillard, recounts the landmark career of Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the son of a Mississippi sharecropper who became the U.S. Navy’s first Black aviator in 1948, and, two years later, its first Black officer to die in the Korean War. Brown’s wingman, a wealthy white United States Naval Academy graduate named Thomas J. Hudner Jr., risked his own life in an attempt to save Brown, and was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor.

Their story could be simplified into a sentimental tale of colorblind brotherhood. (Adam Makos’s 2015 nonfiction book of the same name cites a 1951 Ebony magazine as guilelessly cheering, “The key to Jesse’s popularity was his assumption that no race problem existed and, as a result, none did.”) Instead, Dillard and the screenwriters Jake Crane and Jonathan A.H. Stewart dig deeper into Brown’s pat quotes to the press, revealing a man who didn’t share his anguish with outsiders — a reticence their Brown, played at a lidded simmer by Jonathan Majors, seems to feel toward the very movie he’s in.

The goal is to scrub the symbolism off Brown and restore him to humanity: a 24-year-old striver, husband and father who loathes being singled out as a special case. His odd couple dynamic with the easy-grinning Hudner (Glen Powell) is the steadiest narrative thrust in a film that tends to drift from one set piece to another, much like the military itself in this sliver of years between the end of World War II and the rise of the Cold War era. Here, Brown and Hudner’s squad might be stationed in the Mediterranean to scare off Soviet ships and wake up from an evening spent in Cannes flirting with a teenage Elizabeth Taylor — a true story, modestly embellished — to learn they’re abruptly pivoting to snowy Sinuiju.

Dillard’s curiosity about this often-overlooked time of transition adds some shading to stretches that otherwise feel like a “Top Gun” prequel with the sleek jets swapped out for ungainly gull-wing Corsair propeller planes, heavy beasts that resemble a rockhopper penguin slumped over at the end of a saloon. Dillard and the cinematographer, Erik Messerschmidt, allow a scene or two of crowd-pleasing spectacle, say a dogfight with an enemy MIG, or a shot of ocean surf reflected in the steel belly of a skimming aircraft. But despite its emotional score, the film is more interested in unheroic details: insults ignored, insignia easily discarded, platitudes that dissipate in the air. It refuses to build to the kind of operatic weepie Brown himself wouldn’t respect. As an intellectual dismantling of white savior narratives, “Devotion” is smartly done; as an enjoyable heartwarmer to watch with your uncle, it’s stiff when it should soar.

Still, Majors — one of our most sincere actors — does sob early and often, particularly in a searing moment in front of a mirror when he stares directly at the lens and spits racist insults at his own reflection as though inuring himself to poison. This choice to keep his pain private becomes a window into how Brown wanted to be viewed in life and death: not as a victim in need of rescue, but as his own man.

Devotion Rated PG-13 for strong language, smoking and scenes of war. Running time: 2 hours 18 minutes. In theaters.

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‘Devotion’ Review: JD Dillard Brings ‘Top Gun’ Mojo to Historic Account of a Barrier-Breaking Black Pilot

Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell play real-life Korean War heroes Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner, whose friendship reflects the U.S. Navy's early attempts at integration.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

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Muhammad Ali famously refused to fight for his country, justifying himself with the oft-quoted quip, “No Viet Cong ever called me n—–.” That’s one-half of American history, and an essential one. “ Devotion ” tells the other, presenting the story of a Black pilot so determined to defend — and die for, if need be — the United States that he was willing to endure institutional bigotry to become the Jackie Robinson of the skies: Jesse Brown, the first aviator of color to complete the Navy’s basic training program.

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Plenty of Black men had served in the U.S. military before Brown, though national policy kept them separated from white soldiers, and Jim Crow rules still applied. “Ever think you’d be in a squadron with a colored aviator?” asks one of the other pilots (apart from Joe Jonas, the vaguely defined white supporting characters all sort of blur together). Hudner doesn’t share their disgust with the new situation. Mostly, he’s just itching for action. Hudner enlisted when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, but the war ended a week before he graduated, which means he missed the “Big Show” (pilot-speak for the air fights of WWII). Although much of “Devotion” is presented through Hudner’s eyes, Dillard breaks from that perspective occasionally to share Brown’s experience, and every time he does, the movie becomes more interesting: the scene where Brown encounters Elizabeth Taylor on the beach at Cannes, for example, or an important interaction with a lower-ranking Black sailor, who presents him with a symbol of the men’s admiration.

Integration was a difficult process across American society, as those indoctrinated by notions of their own superiority tried to hold on to their power as long as possible. Revisiting these dynamics on-screen is invariably ugly and potentially triggering for many, which is one reason why storytellers prefer to focus on progressive cases such as Hudner, who demonstrates no overt racism when he meets Brown at Rhode Island’s Quonset Point base.

Though they’re both gifted pilots, Brown has trouble adjusting to the fighter plane the Navy introduced in 1950, the Vought F4U Corsair, whose bulky engine blocked visibility. That late-in-the-game change adds a level of suspense to the film’s airborne sequences — a few of which, like the early lighthouse run, exist simply to give audiences a taste of that same exhilaration these men experienced in the cockpit. While flying is a thrill, landing aboard an aircraft carrier can be downright nerve-racking. Not everyone survives this test.

After bonding in the skies, Brown invites Hudner over and introduces the white man to his wife (Christina Jackson) and child — “to see what a man’s fighting for,” as Hudner puts it. Despite this gesture, it takes nearly the entire film for Brown to accept his partner. Why? Hudner may have been ahead of his peers, but so much of his support comes easy — that is, at no personal risk. Brown makes that clear after he’s cited for disobeying a direct order in the film’s most electrifying sequence, a daredevil dogfight immediately followed by the bombing of a Korean bridge.

Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Special Presentations), Sept. 14, 2022. MPA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 139 MIN.

Production: A Sony release of a Columbia Pictures, Black Label Media presentation of a Black Label Media production. Producers: Molly Smith, Rachel Smith, Thad Luckinbill, Trent Luckinbill. Executive producers: JD Dillard, Glen Powell.
Crew: Director: JD Dillard. Screenplay: Jake Crane, Jonathan A.H. Stewart, based on the book by Adam Makos. Camera: Erik Messerschmidt. Editor: Billy Fox. Music: Chanda Dancy.
With: Jonathan Majors, Glen Powell, Christina Jackson, Thomas Sadoski, Joe Jonas. (English, French, Korean dialogue)

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Devotion Reviews

Devotion doesn’t have the impact it should have, even if Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell give powerhouse performances.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Mar 6, 2024

The aviation drama tells the thrilling and tragic story of Jesse Brown, the first African-American aviator to complete the basic flight training program of the U.S. Navy.

Full Review | Oct 4, 2023

Devotion may not break the mould for war or aviation films. Still, it is a well-directed and entertaining film that is perhaps a tad too long but elevated by superb performances from Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 7, 2023

Stylized and cultured, Devotion soars when least expected and is brought to life by its talented ensemble cast led by Jonathan Majors & Glen Powell.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 25, 2023

Devotion tells a character-driven story with emotionally complex protagonists, proudly focusing on honoring forgotten heroes and interestingly developing moral themes despite the somewhat repetitive structure.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jul 25, 2023

Jonathan Majors & Glen Powell are the real deal. Fantastic cinematography & riveting performances Devotion sticks out and makes itself different enough than Top Gun!

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

Devotion is another example of Majors proving that he is one of the finest young actors working today, but he, and Ensign Jesse Brown, deserved a richer script.

Full Review | Jul 24, 2023

Its heroism lies in being true to its characters and their stories rather than trying hard to make it a larger-than-life war drama without a beating heart.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 14, 2023

The script is respectful to a fault, taking a muted, Masterpiece Theatre approach to a full-blooded tale.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 5, 2023

Well made with thrilling aerial sequences, the film falters when it tries to decide who the main character is.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 4, 2023

Majors' rising star shines bright in Devotion as he brings a real-life hero to life on screen.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 1, 2023

this leaner indie-type production still packs a punch with lead stars, Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell, leading the war along with some riveting aerial battle footage.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Feb 19, 2023

I wish we had learned more about Jesse Brown but this film didn't go deep enough for me. This should have been an Oscar contender but there wasn't enough focus on Jesse's plight and his relationship with Tom Hudner for me to be emotionally invested.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 14, 2023

Despite a really strong performance by Jonathan Majors, this film is very uneven with regards to pacing and character development. It should've been a contender.

A by-the-book biopic... that takes off propelled by Brown's real story but can't surpass Pete 'Maverick'' Mitchell's Mach 10. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 2, 2023

This is a solid and unflashy movie about a little-understood war and some genuine American heroes who were a part of it.

Full Review | Jan 30, 2023

With plenty of heart and soul, Devotion is an emotional spectacle, packed with soaring highs and gut-wrenching potency.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 28, 2023

Devotion foregrounds the virtue of devoted relationships: faithfully showing up for one another and following through on duty, whether in marriage or friendship or war.

Full Review | Jan 27, 2023

Beautiful people in warplanes, always a winning combo. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 25, 2023

…a well-crafted and highly recommendable slice of war heroics that hits all the targets it aims for…

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 25, 2023

Review: ‘Devotion’ stirringly tells the story of the Navy’s first Black aviator

Two Navy pilots walk away from their planes on the deck of aircraft carrier in the movie "Devotion."

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JD Dillard’s 2016 breakout feature film, “Sleight,” was a low-budget gem that showcased what this up-and-coming filmmaker could do. Applying an indie sensibility to a gritty, magic-inspired superhero origin story, his focus on character over spectacle made “Sleight” moving and memorable. In Dillard’s new film, the Korean War epic “Devotion,” the budget may have gotten bigger, and the sumptuous, soaring visuals more spectacular, but the emphasis on character remains the same.

That makes “Devotion” an emotional and fitting tribute to the real men behind an incredible true story. The experiences of Lt. Tom Hudner and Ensign Jesse Brown in the Korean War are detailed in Adam Makos’ 2014 book, “Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice,” adapted for the screen by Jake Crane and Jonathan Stewart. Glen Powell, who has cornered the market on playing wingmen this year with “Devotion” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” plays Tom Hudner; the remarkable actor Jonathan Majors plays Jesse Brown.

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Working with Academy Award-winning cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt , Dillard creates an aesthetic for “Devotion” that harks back to classic war films: The pilots’ Brylcreemed coifs gleam against their leather bomber jackets; their shiny new Corsair planes sweep triumphantly through the clouds of coastal New England during their training flights. What they’re training for remains to be seen, as this crop of aviators missed out on “The Big Show” of World War II. Tom, a Naval Academy graduate, is antsy to prove himself. Jesse, the Navy’s first Black pilot, just wants to fly.

Jesse also wants to settle down with his young family, and going to combat is the exchange he makes for doing what he loves, despite the worries of his wife, Daisy (Christina Jackson). Bachelor Tom’s still searching for what he’s fighting for (aside from war hero status). He thinks it’s a woman, but he finds that his purpose in combat is right next to him, in his friend Jesse.

“Devotion,” at 2 hours and 18 minutes, takes its time building the world and the characters within, which proves to be crucial motivation for the second half’s aerial action. In laying the groundwork, Crane and Stewart’s script is refreshingly restrained: It shows the characters in natural conversation as they work together and avoids clunky exposition.

We understand the racism Jesse has experienced through tensions with the Marines aboard their aircraft carrier, and an anecdote he relates to Tom about the grueling, unfair swim test he was subjected to by the Navy. We see how he struggles internally with the trauma of racism in the strange ritual he completes when he’s alone, repeating the horrible insults and slurs to himself in the mirror. “It helps,” he says ruefully when Tom catches him. It’s a coping mechanism that’s not explained or fixed, but just a part of his character.

At the same time, Jesse has become an important symbol — for the Navy, for the nation and for the Black sailors who run to the deck to watch his every takeoff and landing. Jesse, who keeps his emotions close to the vest, is uncomfortable when a Life magazine photographer wants a photo shoot of him, but he is quietly moved when one of the Black sailors presents him with a Rolex watch that they went in on as a token of their appreciation.

Powell, with his sharp, all-American profile, fits the bill of a clean-cut New England pilot from privilege, and the supporting cast, including Joe Jonas, Spencer Neville and Nick Hargrove as the other pilots, brings some personality to the posse. Thomas Sadoski is particularly great as their no-nonsense but empathetic commander. But the performance of the film is Majors’, who always makes the unexpected and interesting choice. It’s in the way he hooks a thumb in his flight suit, or the cadence of his speech, or the long look he gives a sailor who can’t believe that Elizabeth Taylor (Serinda Swan) has just invited this Black pilot to an exclusive Cannes casino.

It is fun to watch the boys flirt with French women during their shore leave, and while it may seem a dalliance before the action, it’s an important part of knowing Jesse and Tom, and their relationship, before we get to the high-flying heroism. Tonally, “Devotion” remains steady, never going for over-the-top emotion or sensation, simply seeking to express something authentically moving and human. It unmistakably achieves that, delivering a stirring story of friendship during war, and beyond, that is both rare and real.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

'Devotion'

Rated: PG-13, for strong language, some war action/violence and smoking Running time: 2 hours, 18 minutes Playing: Starts Nov. 23 in general release

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‘Devotion’ Delivers a Respectful Last Flight for a Forgotten Hero | Review

While 'Devotion' may not look to reinvent the genre, it does carve out its own space in this year’s impressive slate of war films.

For audiences who enjoy films about high-flying pilots and the tragedy of war, 2022 has delivered a trio of films that nose-dive and army crawl their way through different wars and their associated war games. Top Gun: Maverick was an awe-inspiring legacy sequel, while All Quiet on the Western Front was a gut-wrenching war horror, but with Devotion, you get a harrowing biopic that is equal parts sky-bound epic and a sobering reminder of the real sacrifices of war.

Based on the true story of Naval Aviator Jesse Brown , Devotion ’s title may not immediately make sense, but as the story slowly unwinds, we start to see the layers of different forms of devotion. Jesse ( Jonathan Majors ) is devoted to his career in the Navy, he’s devoted to his wife Daisy ( Christina Jackson ) and their daughter Pam, both of which are very expected forms of devotion. But the exploration of devotion at the heart of the film is the unlikely friendship and camaraderie he finds with his wingman Tom Hudner ( Glen Powell ), and how that bond has carried his memory into the present decade.

Devotion doesn’t get bogged down in the politics of the Korean War, instead hoping that its audience knows enough about the conflict of the war to understand the broad strokes it paints around the Cold War, the Soviet Union, and the fight between North Korea and South Korea. This helps and hinders it to some degree, considering the Korean War is largely viewed as the “Forgotten War,” despite having a direct impact on modern warfare.

RELATED: 'Devotion': Director J.D. Dillard and Christina Jackson on Why You Should See the Film in a Movie Theater

J. D. Dillard approaches Jesse and Tom’s story from a place of great respect, but at the same time, he doesn’t fall prey to the temptation to sugarcoat the situation or to embellish the cut-and-dried story that Adam Makos ’ similarly titled book laid out. Jesse was the first Black man to complete the U.S. Navy's basic flight training program, he was hailed for breaking barriers, profiled by The Associated Press, and photographed for Life magazine. But he also faced racism—from his neighbors, from his peers, and from the other soldiers that they were shipped off to war with. Dillard shirks the notion of showing opinions changed by harrowing heroism, there is no magical happily ever after, and Tom isn’t treated like a hero simply for being a good friend to Jesse. It’s a rare and welcomed decision in a long list of biopics that dishonor their subjects.

Devotion will likely be subjected to comparisons between it and Maverick , which aren’t entirely unwarranted when Powell is back in aviators for the second time this year, and the story follows familiar beats. But rarely does war or its various war games stray from an anticipated path. Beyond a handful of familiar beats, drawing a serious comparison between the two would be a disservice to what Devotion aims to be. Dillard doesn’t lean into spectacle or awe, instead, he relies on the powerhouse of emotions that Majors delivers in his role, paired with the earnest compassion that Powell brings.

The only area where Devotion truly falls short of perfection is the unremarkable cinematography that plays against the film’s scenery. Cannes is stunning, with brilliant blue skies and rows of pastel-colored architecture, but beyond this location, its other settings feel washed out and made for technicolor. While it’s possible that cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt ( Mank ) designed this as an ode to the 1950s of it all, it, unfortunately, shrouds scenes in unnecessary darkness that erodes the vibrancy of the emotion on display.

Despite the impressive cast of Daren Kagasoff , Nick Hargrove , Joseph Cross , Spencer Neville , and Joe Jonas (to name only a handful), Devotion doesn’t take the time to really flesh out the ensemble, and it overlooks some of the more necessary connective tissue in its rush to deliver a tidy 139-minute story. While this isn’t exactly to the detriment of the film’s plot, it does leave audiences wanting more emotional resonance—even as they’re tearing up at the film’s somber conclusion. Most of that falls on the shoulders of the film’s scribes Jake Crane and Jonathan A. Stewart who approach the story from a thousand-foot drop. It ultimately does work to get the audience from points A and B to C, but it left me wanting to see more of the charm and fun of Cannes—which is tragically cut short by the realities of war.

Devotion wouldn’t be half the movie it is without Majors and Powell at the center of the emotional rollercoaster, they’re a dynamite duo that effortlessly delivers on believable conviviality and a sort of brotherhood that would propel someone to make it their life’s mission to bring the other home. They capture the connection between Jesse and Tom that transcended their own deaths and bring a performance worthy of their legacy.

While Devotion may not look to reinvent the genre, it does carve out its own space in this year’s impressive slate of war films. It’s a solid, straight-laced story, that doesn’t shy away from the realities of war or the 1950s. Once it finds its wings in the final act, it soars to a place of real power.

Devotion comes to theaters on November 23. Check out our interview with Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell below:

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‘Devotion’ Review: Jonathan Majors Soars as Navy’s First Black Fighter Pilot

David ehrlich.

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Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Sony Pictures releases the film in theaters on Wednesday, November 23.

A downbeat Korean War drama about the friendship between the first Black aviator in Navy history and the Abercrombie model wingman who always had his side, “ Devotion ” might suffer in the shadow of a mega-spectacle like “Top Gun: Maverick,” but J.D. Dillard ’s staid and conventional pilot saga has a few unique advantages that allow it to stay airborne in such competitive skies.

The first and most obvious of those strengths is Jonathan Majors , who infuses Jesse Brown with layers of warmth and nuance that Jake Crane and Jonathan A.H. Stewart’s thin screenplay would never have been able to find on its own. The second is that “Devotion” has an identifiable enemy, whereas both “Top Gun” films made the dramatically agreeable decision to lock their heroes in dogfights with generic bad guys.

But that enemy isn’t just the Chinese ground forces who ultimately present Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner (ultra-likable “Maverick” alum Glen Powell ) with their most dangerous threat, nor even the persistent racism that Jesse encounters from his fellow pilots at every stage of his naval career. So far as Dillard’s film is concerned, the real enemy is the pernicious doubt that such racism inspires from its subject; the disbelief that it leads Jesse to have in his own mettle, and the distrust that it engenders him to maintain in the men flying alongside him.

“Devotion” can be stiff and hackneyed at the best of times — it’s nothing if not a war movie that has seen too many other war movies — but it lifts a few inches off the ground whenever it locks in on the loneliness that Brown must have felt as he flew towards an aircraft carrier whose landing signal officer may have wanted him to crash, or soared in formation with people who might have been happy to shoot him down. By rendering the specifics of that particular mindfuck without too much hokum, Dillard’s film is able to trace how Tom earns Jesse’s trust.

It doesn’t happen through big speeches or any sort of “I’m Spartacus!” moments, but rather through the relatively subtle process of a white guy (who doesn’t even know what he’s really fighting for) learning to recognize what his wingman really needs from him. It’s allyship at several hundred miles per hour, and in support of someone who showed more bravery just by getting into a plane than most pilots ever did while flying one. Tom and Jesse never become the best of friends — another wrinkle that helps save “Devotion” from nose-diving straight into “The Blind Side” — but it’s genuinely affecting to see these two men come to discover what it means to count on each other, both during battle and beyond.

It would likely be even more affecting if Majors and Powell were given better-defined characters to play, but such charismatic stars can be like human stereograms up there on the screen, capable of creating rich illusions of depth from even the simplest designs. There might have been a bit more for Majors to work with had “Devotion” focused solely on Jesse’s story, but — for reasons that become especially clear during the film’s closing text — any film made about Brown’s legacy had no choice but to make equal room for Hudner’s as well.

Still, it’s peculiar that we first meet Jesse through Tom’s perspective, when he finds the first Black man he’ll ever fly with shouting epithets at himself in the bathroom mirror. It’s 1950, “the big show” is over, and most of the pilots at the Navy’s Rhode Island base seem convinced that they were born too early or too late for their shot at heroism.

In the meantime, these twentysomething kids have fun zooming above the local beaches in their F8F Bearcats and buzzing over the nearby suburbs, where Jesse lives with his wife (Christina Jackson, mostly called upon to look despondent while reading war letters, but there for the movie when it needs her) and their young daughter in a house next to a “nice” white neighbor who calls the cops on them at any opportunity.

One of the pilots is played by Joe Jonas, who fares better than some other pop stars this fall by making no real impression whatsoever. He’s like the rest of the film’s supporting flyboys in that way — no better or worse. Only Thomas Sadowski, playing the pilots’ commanding officer, gets much of anything to do, the “Newsroom” actor showing up for expository mission briefings with such consistent regularity that it starts to feel like he’s a cut-scene character introducing the next level of a video game. It’s during one such briefing that he tells his men to steel themselves for the Korean War.

Don’t be fooled by the promise of dogfights: “Devotion” is far more of a drama than it is a mid-century action movie. The average scene finds Jesse and Tom standing together in the cramped recesses of an aircraft carrier and discussing the finer points of what “insubordination” really means for someone who the Navy regards as less of a pilot than a promotional opportunity (the more explicit racial overtures are mostly reserved for a clumsy second act sequence in which the pilots wash ashore at Cannes and spend a night carousing with Liz Taylor).

Tom is nothing more than a nice smile with some good intentions behind it, but if Powell is stuck playing a non-role — despite being an executive producer on the project — his classic swagger makes it easy enough to believe the nuances of Tom’s loyalty to his wingman. Jesse can likewise be a few dimensions shy of what this movie could use, but Majors makes a full meal of the scraps on his plate, the actor expressing Brown’s internalized love and pain with the full richness of the real person he’s playing. There isn’t a whiff of didacticism to his character or in the dynamic that he establishes with Tom; these are just two men who are doing their best to look out for each other in all sorts of foreign circumstances.

Devotion, Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell

That only becomes more viscerally evident when the action shifts to Korea. While “Mank” cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt opts for a dark and dingy color palette that makes every interior scene look like it fell out of a Clint Eastwood movie, the aerial sequences are shot with a dizzying splendor worth seeing on the biggest IMAX screen.

The training flights prove most impressive — the violins of Chanda Dancy’s lush but overbearing score so intense that the pilots seem to be dodging them like enemy strafe — but the combat sequences are shot with a clarity and artfulness that extends to their restrained use of CGI, and reflect Dillard’s maturation as a filmmaker. Little about his previous features (the diverting creature feature “Sweetheart” and the less successful “Sleight”) suggested that he had the chops to pull this off, but the clarity of his vision shines through here even when his budget is being stretched to the breaking point. Dillard’s own father was the second Black member of the Navy’s Blue Angels flight demo squad, and the director’s latest movie reflects the earnestness of a son determined to honor that legacy.

And honoring legacies is what “Devotion” does best of all, as the film reaches back into the footnotes of a “forgotten war” to rescue the memories of two men who would do anything and everything in their power to rescue each other. To see how that effort has continued through the generations and onto movie screens is deeply touching, even when the movie itself is not.

“Devotion” premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Sony Pictures will release it in theaters on Wednesday, November 23.

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Devotion Tells a Quieter Kind of War Story

Devotion was made well before Top Gun: Maverick came out, but it’s hard not to be reminded of that movie – and, of course, the first Top Gun – in its opening scenes, which cut from sensuous close-ups of a Vought F4U Corsair fighter to the image of a bomber-jacketed Glen Powell, in full Cruisian glory, as he drives alongside a plane taking off from a runway and struts onto the Quonset Point air station on the coast of Rhode Island. But while it’s certainly nice to see Maverick ’s scene-stealing “Hangman” back in the Navy, these opening moments feel more like a knowing nod to the kind of film Devotion will not be. J.D. Dillard’s poignant aviation drama establishes its own unique tone soon thereafter, as Powell’s Tom Hudner enters an empty locker room and hears a man’s voice in the bathroom bitterly muttering, “You ain’t worth shit.”

That voice belongs to Ensign Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors), an accomplished flier with whom Hudner is paired early on, and who has, we learn, so absorbed the racism and hatred he’s faced over the years that he often repeats the insults to himself in the mirror, to get himself going. The year is around 1950, and war is brewing in Korea. To Strike Fighter Squadron 32, most of whom missed out on World War II (which they call “the Big Show”), the new conflict is a chance to prove themselves. But Brown stands apart from the others, not just because of his race but also because, as a family man, he has a life he’d like to return to. To his loving wife, Daisy (Christina Jackson), going abroad to war is not an opportunity for Jesse to serve but understandable cause for grave concern.

Devotion tells the fact-based tale of Brown and Hudner’s growing friendship as the “Fighting 32 nd ” ships out and finally faces aerial combat. It certainly works as a war movie, even if the moves are fairly familiar by this point. There’s the early tragedy to remind our heroes of the dangers of their job; there’s the boozy, chummy interlude on the French Riviera (where the men wind up partying with Elizabeth Taylor!); there’s the part where someone defies orders to engage in an act of heroism; there’s the ill-advised rescue mission. Devotion is based on a true story, and the obligatory roll call of archival photos at the end remind us that a lot of this stuff (including the run-in with Taylor) actually happened. But within the familiar often lie uncomfortable truths: A heroic act of defiance, for a Black soldier in 1950, can quickly become insubordination and, potentially, disgrace.

The film, to its credit, manages to make even its more predictable elements feel compelling and new in the moment. Dillard, who demonstrated his facility with suspenseful visual storytelling in the ingenious 2019 castaway thriller Sweetheart , brings confidence and authenticity to the aerial scenes, and the film’s climax, set during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, is genuinely riveting. But again, one shouldn’t expect dazzling, Maverick -style spectacle here (even if the two films share an aerial stunt coordinator in the brilliant Kevin LaRosa Jr.). This is a smaller, more somber picture, where the suspense comes not from the machines but from the men.

That also makes it a tricky film, dramatically. Devotion gets something right about soldiers that a lot of war movies overlook for storytelling purposes: They are not the kind to wear their emotions on their sleeves. These are terse, restrained men, for whom control and discipline are everything. Perhaps more importantly, Brown has clearly learned the hard way not to really trust anybody. As a result, the relationship between him and Hudner, which starts off as a standoffish one and moves towards a sober loyalty, never really comes off as conventionally dramatic. This is not a shouty movie. That’s kind of the point: With these men, one has to read between the lines of what they say and do to understand how they really feel. There are stretches of Devotion where it doesn’t seem like all that much is happening, but then you look closer and you realize that just about everything is happening.

That requires a lot from the actors. Majors brings to Brown a brooding solitude – not just in his line readings and expressions but even in the way he carries himself. Whenever we learn something new about Brown, it feels like a heavy door has briefly opened, but only to reveal a sliver of light. Partly, it’s because this character has dedicated himself to something supposedly greater than himself – a military, a nation, a cause – and yet still has to hang onto his individuality, because the thing he’s given himself over to might not, on some level, be entirely deserving of his devotion.

Perhaps there’s an underlying duality to that title, too. It’s not a service or a flag that these men ultimately devote themselves to, but to one another. Powell’s performance, as a result, is largely reactive, as he’s slowly pulled into Majors’s orbit. It’s touching to see Hudner go from a wide-eyed, happy-go-lucky flyboy to someone more grounded, more compassionate, and maybe even more melancholy. War movies are often about their protagonists developing thousand-yard stares after going through the meat-grinder of battle. In Devotion ’s case, it’s not so much the combat that gives these men their thousand-yard stares but rather the feelings they’ve had to endure.

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‘devotion’ review: despite a passionate jonathan majors, this korean war epic seldom takes flight.

Based on the true story of the U.S. Navy's first Black aviator, the film will land on a number of IMAX screens when it bows Nov. 23.

By Michael Rechtshaffen

Michael Rechtshaffen

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Devotion Still - TIFF - Publicity - H 2022

If you believe the marketing, then Devotion , an inspirational aerial combat epic set during the Korean War, would like very much to be thought of as Top Gun: Corsair.

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Devotion review – sturdy flyboy biopic needs more maverick spirit

Toronto film festival: An inspiring yet by-the-numbers retelling of the first Black man to compete in the navy’s flight training program

B efore there was a Top Gun, there was Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner. Brown held the distinction of being the first Black aviator to complete the navy’s flight training program, serving in the Korean war with Hudner as his trusty wingman. But in Devotion, director JD Dillard’s screen dramatization of their time in uniform, the decorated flyboys and their brothers-in-arms of the Fighting 32nd lack the cocksure jockishness flexed by Maverick and his cohort. Despite the superficial similarities to the dogfighting bonanza of the summer (and shooting in what could be the exact same patch of tundra for the identical emotional climaxes), this polished double biopic distinguishes itself with a solemnity and stillness in the moments between missions. Training its crosshair on the ingrained prejudice of the military and the question of how well-meaning white allies can best support its undoing, the film compensates for relatively middling action set pieces with a stolid maturity. Except for the part where Joe Jonas tries to score with Elizabeth Taylor.

The guys’ waggish detour to a Croisette casino with the crown jewel of Hollywood’s golden-agers (played by Serrinda Swan, a serviceable lookalike) is as rowdy as it gets, anomalous to the stiff-lipped snap-and-salute tone. (It’s also one in a handful of scenes that could be easily trimmed to get a 138-minute runtime in fighting shape.) From the first meeting between Lnt Hudner (Glen Powell, looking every bit the naval officer Ken doll he did in the Top Gun sequel) and Ensign Brown (Jonathan Major), there’s a tentativeness in their bonding that goes beyond the usually gradual nature of the process. The difference in their races hangs over every scene they share, though the issue isn’t any bigotry on Hudner’s part. Quite the opposite – he’s all too insistent about sticking up for a perfectly capable adult who wants nothing more than to be treated like anyone else.

Brown encounters discrimination everywhere he goes, whether from bartenders refusing to serve him or drunken louts trotting out the laziest slurs they’ve got. While he’s gotten good at turning the other cheek as demanded by a white-dominated society, he can’t deny the accumulated pain in his more intimate moments. A shaken yet determined Majors gets a chance to show his range in the private baring of his weariness, as in his ritualistic repeating of past invective hurled at him or the recounting of a swim test stacked against him that he nonetheless passed. Hudner takes it upon himself to defend his buddy, just as he’d want done for himself, oblivious that slugging strangers and filing special reports only brings unwanted attention to a Black man who’d rather fly under the radar than give tokenistic quotes to reporters from Time magazine. And maybe it only seems like it because he gets the final beat, but Hudner’s slow enlightenment about the difference between performative solidarity and true showing up turns into the core substance of a film ostensibly focused on tribute to a pioneering African American.

Their hard-earned friendship makes for an inspiring profile in camaraderie, even when packaged in simplistic morals. Brown’s wife (Christina Jackson) plays a thankless role that could have been scripted for her in checklist form: provide warm familial memory to sustain husband, express concern over risks he takes, weep in his absence, deliver clueless Caucasian’s lesson to be there when needed instead of leaping to provide aid out of pity. Jackson does it all with poise and a sensuality that shows us why she goes so well with her soft-spoken, strait-laced spouse. “It’s important to know who you’re flying with,” Hudner tells her in a visit to his partner’s home before they ship out. Jake Crane and Jonathan A Stewart’s screenplay abides by that maxim, more invested in the grounded portrayal of these men and their relationships than their exploits in the sky.

Sturdy if unexceptional, this prime cut of dad-bait hangs on the performances of Majors and Powell, two abundantly charming men hamstrung by straightforward material. The latter has an all-American face that looks like privilege made flesh, full of prep school educations and rugby trophies and summers on the compound. He’s an apt counterpoint to Majors, sculpted for a stoicism rooted not in masculine repression, but in carefully maintained control over anger. His whole life, he’s had to work twice as hard to get half as far, a trite biopic standby that Majors does his best to redeem with stifled frustration and exhaustion. Military men down to their bones, Brown and Hudner both put on a brave facade as they respectively wrestle with external hardship and self-imposed guilt, stowing their angst under a plain appearance. Dillard attempts to do the same with his unadorned point-and-shoot direction. He, however, has nothing richer lying underneath the placid surface.

Devotion is screening at the Toronto film festival and will be released in the US on 23 November

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Gripping historical drama about wartime friendship.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Promotes courage, integrity, perseverance, and tea

Jesse is hardworking and determined. He's a devote

Tells historic story of first Black U.S. naval avi

A naval aviator gets in a fight with U.S. Army sol

Married couple kisses several times, embraces, and

The "N" word is said at least four times, as are o

Jesse is given a Rolex watch.

Several adult characters smoke cigarettes. Some of

Positive Messages

Promotes courage, integrity, perseverance, and teamwork. Encourages interracial and intercultural friendship and bonding and shows how the military can speed up the intensity of relationships. Not all heroes live to tell their stories. Black pioneers in military history deserve acknowledgement for the sacrifices they made and the racism they had to deal with on a regular basis.

Positive Role Models

Jesse is hardworking and determined. He's a devoted father and husband and is disciplined in his work with the Navy. He's confident but also humble. Daisy is a supportive and encouraging wife and a loving mother.

Diverse Representations

Tells historic story of first Black U.S. naval aviator, Jesse Brown. Jesse (Jonathan Majors) doesn't want to be seen solely as a pioneer, but he also understands what it means for the other Black U.S. Navy recruits to see him succeed. He and his wife, Daisy (Christina Jackson), deal with racism (e.g., their neighbor who calls the cops on them for "loud music," slurs thrown at Jesse by White sailors and soldiers), but they also focus on their marriage, family, goals. Tom (Glen Powell) is a main character too, but he's not depicted as a "White savior." Black sailors rally around to watch Jesse land his plane, later give him a special gift to acknowledge what he means to them. Director J.D. Dillard is Black.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

A naval aviator gets in a fight with U.S. Army soldiers who make racist comments to Jesse. A pilot mistimes his landing, crashes his plane in the ocean, and dies. War scenes include pilots and soldiers involved in air and ground battle against the allied forces of North Korea, China, and the Soviet Union. The fighting includes dropping bombs on bridges, soldiers running for cover and exchanging fire on the ground, and shots of injured, dying, and dead men.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Married couple kisses several times, embraces, and dances. Men fall over themselves to talk to and flirt with Elizabeth Taylor. Sailors and soldiers flirt with French women at a bar. A commanding officer tells the aviators they aren't in the service just to fly and screw.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

The "N" word is said at least four times, as are other racial terms like "colored," "monkey" and "black ass." Also occasional use of words including "s--t," "screw," "damn," "a--hole," "shut up," and more.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Drinking, drugs & smoking.

Several adult characters smoke cigarettes. Some of the sailors strap cigarettes to their body to sell while on shore leave. The aviators and other soldiers end up on R&R in France, where they drink a lot at bars, hotel casinos, and cafés. A couple of adults drink beer.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Devotion is a historical drama based on military historian Adam Makos' book about the real-life relationship between the first Black naval aviator, Ensign Jesse Brown ( Jonathan Majors ), and his White squadron mate, Lieutenant Tom Hudner ( Glen Powell ), during the Korean War. The movie features wartime military action that leads to casualties due to aerial fights, ground fire, and anti-aircraft fire during a dangerous mission. American soldiers are wounded and die. In one case, a pilot dies when he crashes into the water instead of landing on an aircraft carrier. Many adult characters, both military and civilian, smoke cigarettes (historically accurate for the era), and sailors and soldiers drink and flirt their way through a short leave in France. An affectionate married couple is shown kissing, embracing, and dancing. Language is occasional but includes racial slurs (the "N" word, "monkey," "black ass," and more) as well as "s--t" and "damn." Families who watch together can talk about the historical context, the messages about the added challenges and overt racism that pioneering Black sailors and soldiers faced, and why this is a story not only about breaking the color line but also about friendship and dedication. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Kids say (6)

Based on 3 parent reviews

Great true story!

It lacks being inspiring and gripping but it does have some good moments, what's the story.

DEVOTION follows the story of how Ensign Jesse Brown ( Jonathan Majors ), the United States' first Black naval aviator, forged a close friendship with his White wingman, Lieutenant Thomas Hudner ( Glen Powell ). At first, Jesse, who's originally from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is apprehensive about Tom, a recent graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. But as they get to know each other, Tom proves that he's not a typical (i.e., racist) officer. Jesse, who keeps to himself, has a loving wife, Daisy (Christina Jackson), and baby girl back home, while serious-minded Tom is married to the job. In 1950, as part of the Navy's Fighter Squadron 32, they find themselves training with an F4U Corsair, a difficult-to-land plane. As they train and prepare for eventual deployment to the Korean War, the two form a trust that leads to a remarkable sacrifice in battle.

Is It Any Good?

Majors and Powell's performances elevate this biographical war drama about the United States' first Black Navy pilot into a touching character study. Working from Jake Crane and Jonathan Stewart's adaptation of Adam Makos' award-winning military history book, director J.D. Dillard creates a memorable tale of two heroes of the Forgotten War. While the movie can't capture all of the book's details, its nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime does provide the highlights of Brown and Hudner's unique relationship, their shared devotion to duty, and the institutional racism that Brown faced in the desegregated military. Both Majors and Powell do excellent work, as does Jackson, who lights up every scene she's in as Jesse's sunny, supportive Daisy. Majors' portrayal is one of quiet intensity, of keeping his rage in check, of not being able to share the emotional load of being the only Black man in the crew with any of his mates. Thomas Sadoski stands out as the squadron's division leader Commander Dick Cevoli, and Canadian actress Serinda Swan memorably plays Elizabeth Taylor, whom the sailors meet while on leave in Cannes.

Although Devotion is a trifle overlong, the third act is tautly woven, with pulse-pounding action sequences -- including the climactic situation that's the main reason Brown and Hudner's story has survived for 70 years. The movie is reminiscent of an episode of the acclaimed limited series Band of Brothers , but with a narrower focus on two men and, to a lesser extent, their squadron mates. Because of his isolated status as the United States' first Black Navy fighter pilot (the Tuskegee Airmen were in the Army), Jesse is understandably uncomfortable being depicted by military press as the Jackie Robinson of the Navy. He just wants to serve his nation and return to his girls. Hudner, meanwhile, is depicted in his interactions with Jesse as at times conflicted and well-intentioned, but also clueless -- until he finally starts seeing Jesse as a whole person. Chanda Dancy's powerful score is accompanied by a touching original ballad, "Not Alone," from Joe Jonas (who co-stars as Marty Goode, another member of the 32) and Khalid. Brown was undeniably alone as the sole Black pilot in his squadron, but Hudner had his back and refused to let him go without a fight.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in Devotion . Is it necessary to the story? Does realistic military violence impact viewers differently than stylized or fantasy violence does?

Discuss the role that race and racism played in Jesse Brown's naval career. Why was he reluctant to be written about for being a Black aviator? What made his relationship with Tom Hudner special?

Who was fighting in the Korean War, and why? How does the movie explain why countries like China and the United States were involved? Where could you learn more about the "Forgotten War"? If you've read the book the movie was based on, how does the movie compare?

Whom do you consider a role model in the story? What character strengths do they demonstrate? Why are courage , integrity , perseverance , and teamwork important?

Jesse is shown preparing for a difficult mission by using extremely negative self-talk in a mirror. Do you think that's a healthy way to motivate? Why, or why not?

Movie Details

In theaters : November 23, 2022
On DVD or streaming : January 8, 2023
Cast : Jonathan Majors , Glen Powell , Christina Jackson
Director : J.D. Dillard
Inclusion Information : Black directors, Black actors
Studio : Columbia Pictures
Genre : Drama
Topics : Friendship , History
Character Strengths : Courage , Integrity , Perseverance , Teamwork
Run time : 139 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : strong language, some war action/violence, and smoking
Award : Common Sense Selection
Last updated : January 3, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Screen Rant

Devotion true story: what the movie gets right & what it changes.

Devotion is based on a true story about the U.S. Navy's first Black pilot, Jesse Brown. Here's what the movie gets right, and what it changes.

Devotion is based on the true story of the U.S. Navy's first Black pilot, Jesse Brown, and his wingman, Tom Hudner. The film closely follows their experiences during the Korean War, including Jesse's tragic death and Tom's efforts to save him.
Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell deliver breakout performances as Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner, respectively. The film explores their friendship amidst racism and war, highlighting Jesse's struggles and Tom's heroic actions.
While there are some fictional elements in the movie, such as a drunken brawl and a carpool arrangement, they serve to convey the importance of Jesse's story and the racism he faced. Overall, Devotion stays true to the heart-wrenching true story of Jesse and Tom's bond and the sacrifices they made.

The Korean War epic Devotion true story is based on the U.S. Navy's first Black pilot, Jesse Brown, and his wingman Tom Hudner. The film is based on the 2015 novel Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice by Adam Makos, which retells the true story of the camaraderie between Jesse and Tom, recounting both Naval officers' experiences during the Korean War. The movie Devotion sticks relatively close to the true story, including Jesse's tragic death and Tom's efforts to save his friend.

Devotion has a breakout cast , starring Jonathan Majors ( Lovecraft Country ) as Jesse Brown and Glen Powell ( Top Gun: Maverick ) as Tom Hudner. Set in the early 1950s, Devotion sees Tom transferred to Fighter Squadron 32, where he meets Ensign Jesse Brown, the only African American in the unit . The two become fast friends, and the film follows them through Jesse's trials with racism, war, and his tragic death at the hands of a Chinese anti-aircraft gunner. However, there are differences between the Devotion true story and the movie.

What Happened To Devotion's Tom Hudner After The Korean War?

What is true in devotion, jesse was the u.s. navy's first black pilot.

Devotion is dedicated to Jesse's journey as the Navy's first Black pilot . Brown was the subject of racism and bigotry throughout his run in the Navy. He was the nation's first person of color to make it through the Naval flight training program, and his final exam saw him perform five perfect landings on an aircraft carrier. At just 22 years old, he became a designated Naval Aviator, becoming the first Black American to receive the "golden wings" of a Naval Aviator badge, and also the first to fly in combat.

Devotion's Jesse Really Did THAT In The Mirror

A surprising scene in Devotion sees Jonathan Majors' Jesse Brown shouting racial epithets at himself in the mirror after struggling to deal with racist neighbors. In addition, Brown continues this self-abuse to motivate himself before missions. Reportedly, this is true. Brown endured racism in both his professional (especially during basic training) and private life and resorted to insulting himself to be able to better withstand these attacks.

In Makos' book, Jesse started this when he was young while standing in front of his family's only mirror. The book doesn't mention if he still repeated this behavior during his time in the Navy, but it's highly likely.

Tom And Jesse Met Elizabeth Taylor In France

Another scene in Devotion sees Jesse meeting the iconic Cleopatra star Elizabeth Taylor on a beach in Nice, France. In the footage, Jesse secures invitations for the rest of the squadron to go to a casino. In real life, Jesse and Tom did meet Taylor, who was in Cannes for the eponymous Film Festival. Brown reportedly met her while she was dining at the Carlton Hotel. Hudner also met her four days later while she was visiting the Leyte. It's unknown whether Taylor personally invited them to the casino.

Devotion's Tom Risked His Life To Save Jesse

In Devotion 's ending, Jesse Brown's plane is shot down by a Chinese anti-aircraft gunner , and he's forced to crash-land in the mountains of North Korea. Hudner sees that Brown is alive but trapped in his cockpit. Hudner purposely crashes his plane in the same clearing to save his friend. Though he's able to put out the fire, he's not able to save Jesse from the wreckage, and Brown sadly passes. The way that Devotion recounts Jesse's death , and Hudner's attempt to save him is completely accurate.

In one of the most tragic turns of the Devotion true story, it's believed a gunner hiding in the snow took Brown's plane down, and he crash-landed in a valley. He attempted to free himself but was unsuccessful. Tom Hudner did crash-land his plane just 100 meters from Brown's and used snow to put out the engine fire. He tried desperately for 45 minutes to free Jesse from the crash but to no avail. Rather than being court-martialed for downing his plane, Hudner received the first Navy Medal of Honor for the Korean War.

How Glen Powell's Devotion Movie Compares To Top Gun: Maverick

The navy sent a "funeral flight" for jesse brown.

In Devotion, Hudner's superiors on the USS Leyte deny his request to send a team to the site of Brown's crash to retrieve his friend's body. The commander on the Leyte, Capt. Thomas Sisson (Dean Denton), determines that it's too risky to retrieve Jesse's body from the Chinese-controlled area . Instead, Jesse Brown is given a warrior's funeral, in which a V-32 destroys the downed Corsairs with his body still inside.

With some changes, this was in line with what happened in Devotion 's true story inspiration. In real life, the Navy sent seven fighter planes for Jesse Brown's "funeral flight." The seven planes flew in a circle around the site and then dropped napalm to engulf Brown's body and the planes in flames. As they did this, they recited the Lord's Prayer over the radio and then rocked their wings before leaving as a final salute to their fallen brother-in-arms.

What Is False In Devotion?

Tom didn't throw the first punch in devotion's true story.

Navy pilot Tom Hudner came to Jesse's defense multiple times in Devotion . However, one particular scene isn't taken from the Devotion true story. While on shore leave in Nice, France, Hudner gets in a drunken brawl with a Marine who had previously harassed Jesse . Jesse tells him not to fight his battles for him, just be there for him. This fight didn't happen. An incident that may have inspired the scene happened at a hotel when a waiter refused serve Brown. Tom stood up and told the rest of the group, "Let's get the hell out of here."

10 Best Movies Like Devotion

Jesse didn't disobey tom's orders.

During one of the flying missions in Devotion , Jesse disobeys Tom's orders to retreat and then blows up a bridge by himself . After the mission ends and both men are safely on land, Tom praises Jesse in the report, but Jesse tells him it will likely just be used by their racist superiors to deny him promotions in the Navy. Both of these moments are fictional, as there's no record mentioning that Jesse Brown blew up a bridge and disobeyed a direct order, or that Tom Hudner filed a report about it. (via History vs Hollywood )

While these scenes are not 100% authentic to Devotion 's true story, they help establish the most crucial aspects of why the real Jesse Brown is important to Navy history. Though they're factually false, they shine a bright light on the racism Jesse faced, and how he dealt with it through sheer heroism and tenacity. Jesse disobeying an order to complete a mission, and Tom filing an accurate report, are both consistent with their respective characters. This was what made the scenes seem authentic even if they were entirely fictional.

Daisy And Tom Didn't Know Each Other

In the Devotion movie, Hudner and Brown frequently carpool, prompting Brown to introduce Hudner to his family, including his wife Daisy (Christina Jackson). Before being deployed to the Mediterranean, Daisy implores Hudner to be there for her husband, and he agrees. In Devotion 's ending, Tom encounters Daisy at Jesse's funeral and apologizes to her for not being able to save him. Daisy rebuffs him, and says that she only asked him to be there for Jesse, not to save him.

Tom then tells her Jesse's last words, which were about how much he loved his wife. It's a heart-wrenching scene in Devotion , unfortunately, it isn't factual. In the Devotion true story, Tom didn't actually meet Daisy until his medal of honor ceremony , and the two didn't carpool at all. Rather, fellow pilot Carol Mohring (Nick Hargrove) was the one that carpooled and frequented the Brown household. Daisy was in attendance at Tom's medal of honor ceremony, where she met Hudner.

The only time Tom had seen her previously was from a distance when she and Jesse were saying goodbye before he boarded the Leyte. This is probably the biggest departure that Devotion makes from the true story of Jesse Brown, which otherwise sticks pretty closely to his real-life experiences as the U.S. Navy's first Black pilot.

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Review: 'Devotion' is a quiet tale of allyship amid heroics

Film review - devotion.

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There must be something about actor Glen Powell that casting directors associate with the heavens.

He’s played astronaut John Glenn in “Hidden Figures,” voiced a NASA official in the animated film "Apollo 10 1⁄2” and has two roles this year as a hotshot Navy aviator.

Here he is in “Devotion,” kicking off the movie with an entrance that’s pure cocksure, smirking golden boy, a replay of his earlier role as Jake “Hangman” Seresin in "Top Gun: Maverick."

But this time the year is 1950, and Powell's swaggering Lt. Tom Hudner is not the hero. The real star of “Devotion” is Ensign Jesse Brown, the first African American to complete Navy flight training. He's played superbly and deeply by Jonathan Majors. So why is Powell so front and center?

The film is perhaps not what you were expecting. It is not an action thrill ride, a “Top Gun” set in Korea. There is no “Highway to the Danger Zone.” It is, rather, a quiet portrait of an airman over the course of a year, and, to be honest, it's really not so much about him as about the notion of allyship.

Based on the book by the same name by Adam Makos, “Devotion” is assuredly directed by J.D. Dillard, who skillfully mixes shots in tight quarters with excellent aerial combat sequences. The script by Jake Crane and Jonathan A. H. Stewart is a slow-burning affair that will have audiences tugging at the leash.

It's not a typical biopic with lots of flashbacks. In fact, there are none. We meet a gruff Brown after he has endured all manner of racism — hazed, bullied and forced to repeat Navy tests multiple times. His commanding officer refused to pin his lapel wings at graduation. Such experiences he reveals in off-hand comments. He has written every slur and demeaning putdown he has been told and repeats them in a mirror for motivation.

Once Brown returns nightly to his wife and baby daughter, the grimness dissolves. In the domestic sphere, he is a dotting father and loving husband. The bond he shares with wife, Daisy (better than wonderful Christina Jackson), is the rock hard earth that allows him to soar. “Play nice,” his wife tells him.

The rest of the cast includes a nifty but small part for Joe Jonas, showing lots of charismatic promise, and Thomas Sadoski as the aviator's commanding officer. He plays it like a cool assistant professor at night school who is likely to turn his seat backward during a lecture to “rap with the kids."

A tentative friendship blooms between Brown and Hudner, who sees in the Black airman a striving pilot and an admirable man. Both long for combat, having learned to fly in the years after World War II just as the Korean conflict is heating up. They both learn to wrestle with the Vought F4U-4 Corsair, a temperamental fighter aircraft.

Hudner's fondness for Brown has a condescending flavor, though he wouldn't admit it. The white pilot is always ready to jump to his Black friend's defense, be it a stare-down with intolerant U.S. soldiers or fussy French waiters. He's the first to throw a punch, even when Brown wasn't looking for violence. “I can fight my own fights. Been doing it for a long time,” Brown tells his wingman.

And that's when the film gets interesting (although things get a little surreal when their carrier docks in Cannes and the aviators somehow meet up with Elizabeth Taylor.) This lesson of how to be an ally for diversity comes into sharper focus as the film progresses. It is Hudner who needs to evolve his thinking. It is why Hudner is so prominent in a film about a Black pioneer.

When a group of Black sailors — who have come out on deck to cheer Brown land his plane on the carrier — approach him with a Rolex gift to say how proud he makes them, one says: “We see you.” But Hudner also needs to see him. Not through white savior lenses but as a man. “It was never your job to save Jesse,” Brown's wife tells him.

But, ultimately, this is a weird way to honor a man who would posthumously receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal and the Purple Heart. In many ways, framing his heroics beside a white wingman undermines the singularity of Brown. Even the film's poster — with both actors' pictures equally large — gives a false equivalency. This hero didn't need any help.

“Devotion,” a Sony Pictures release in theaters Wednesday, is rated PG-13 for “strong language, some war action/violence and smoking.” Running time: 139 minutes. Two stars out of four.

MPAA Definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Online: https://www.devotion.movie/

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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Devotion Movie Review: Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell Attempt to Elevate Top Gun Period Piece

Devotion stars jonathan majors and glen powell and is directed by j.d. dillard.

Review: Jonathan Majors has to do much of the heavy lifting in Devotion – a film attempting to comment on much more than its obvious counterpart Top Gun: Maverick , but sacrifices the momentum and drive in doing so.

Devotion movie Review Jonathan Majors Glen Powell Top Gun Maverick Movie

I was a bit weary of this one. Devotion released in theaters towards the end of 2022 and used the Top Gun: Maverick train to market itself as a worthy successor to aerial moviemaking. It also starred soon-to-be Kang the Conqueror Jonathan Majors and Hangman badass Glen Powell tag teaming enemies in the Korean War. For all of these interesting ideas and possibilities, I was a bit surprised that the overall consensus and reception was that Devotion was (as the kids say) mid.

So, I chose to skip it in theaters. Listen, November and December are busy months. There’s a lot going on beyond the film landscape, but there’s also a hefty amount of awards material released during that time that I need to check out. Combine that with the usual big blockbuster holiday release (this year being Avatar: The Way of Water ) and an endless pit of stuff I had to catch up on from the previous ten months of the year, I had to sacrifice a few things – one of those being Devotion .

I feel a bit mean doing it, but throughout a good portion of this review I’m going to be making comparisons between Devotion and the film that proved to be the industry’s biggest success story in years – Top Gun: Maverick . This is for obvious reasons; they both contain similar subject matter, special effects, and iconography. Devotion also attempted to piggyback off the success of Top Gun: Maverick by hitting theaters quickly after the latter and starring Glen Powell .

Now obviously the crew and cast behind Devotion didn’t know that this would be the case as they filmed and produced it, but that’s just the way the industry and criticism works. Unfortunately for Devotion it will always live as the film riding the Top Gun: Maverick wave – for better and for worse. At the time of its release, it took a lot of flack for this. It was criticized for being void of what made Top Gun: Maverick so successful. In a way, it was labeled as the Great Value version of that hit movie.

Now some of those criticisms are ones that I share. Yes, Devotion feels rather subdued in tone and momentum compared to Top Gun: Maverick . It feels more inclined to share deeper characterization and explore themes that the latter just didn’t feel interested in doing. And that’s not me snickering at one or propping up the other, it’s just an observation that beyond obvious set pieces, “ Devotion ” separates itself when you begin to look at the deeper layers of it.

I think it’s safe to say that none of this works if the leading man isn’t up for the role and Jonathan Majors seems to be the obvious guy who can carry it as Jesse Brown. He’s one of the few actors in Hollywood right now with an honest, sincere side that shines through his bulky screen presence. No performer feels like an everyday human despite his sheer charisma and size quite like Jonathan Majors – even if Dave Bautista desperately wants to occupy the same space.

There’s a weathered quality to Majors’ performance in Devotion , and his relationship with his wife Daisy (played by the equally sincere Christina Jackson ) really takes the show. Every bit of their connection feels real and lifelike and their interactions are really when Devotion hits its highest points.

Glen Powell costars as Majors’ wingman Thomas Hudner Jr., and while it isn’t my favorite Powell performance, it offers up a new perspective and opportunity for the actor. Glen Powell shines as the goofy, charming, and overly cocky brute in Everybody Wants Some!! and Top Gun: Maverick , and there’s virtually none of that here. Maybe when I mentioned earlier that Devotion feels subdued, it may be because Powell shifts from what he’s normally doing to a stiffer and more reserved approach.

I’m not saying he’s bad in Devotion , but it feels like he’s not allowed to use his best talents and the result is that Majors blows him away at points. The two share the screen for large sections at a time, and Jonathan Majors overwhelmingly rules the day. But not everything is a competition and it didn’t bother me enough to be a real criticism of the film – they’re both still fun to hang out with for two hours.

Reviews for Films like Devotion (2022)

Outside of the two leading men and being able to spend a couple hours with them, Devotion is, quite honestly, rather forgettable. The flying sequences are neat (and here are where the comparisons come in), but Top Gun: Maverick still sets the bar for them and Devotion doesn’t quite live up to it. The story is emotional at times, but doesn’t have enough grit or deeper emotions that you can hang your hat on. It feels like a watered down version of a film that set new box offices standards months before.

Devotion does attempt to offer some commentary about larger societal issues such as race relations and equal opportunity struggles. Those ring pretty effective when paired with juggernaut performers, but I wonder whether it works only because of the hands the material is in. Again, Jonathan Majors rules this one, but it’s like those early LeBron Cleveland years – he can’t do it all by himself.

Beyond that, Devotion isn’t a bad film. It’s a rather average one that I had lower expectations for going in considering every critic seemed to be on board that it was just a bland Top Gun: Maverick . I can say, it’s not quite that. It’s sadder, it’s bleaker, and it’s incredibly more serious. But is it better? Not really. It feels like the little brother.

Genre: Drama , History , War

Watch Devotion on Paramount+ with Showtime and VOD

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Devotion Cast and Credits

Jonathan Majors as Jesse Brown

Glen Powell as Thomas J. Hudner Jr.

Christina Jackson as Daisy Brown

Thomas Sadoski as Dick Cevoli

Daren Kagasoff as Bill Koenig

Joe Jonas as Marty Goode

Director: J.D. Dillard

Writers: Jake Crane , Jonathan Stewart

Cinematography: Erik Messerschmidt

Editor: Billy Fox

Composer: Chanda Dancy

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, answering the call: j.d. dillard on devotion.

Fate beckoned filmmaker J.D. Dillard when it came to delivering the true-life story of war hero Jesse Brown to the big screen. Long before his filmmaking career took flight, Dillard grew up a Navy brat. His father Bruce Dillard served as a Naval flight officer for the Blue Angels and was the second African American in history to do so. Watching videos of his father's aviation skills and also " Star Wars " at a young age sparked Dillard’s love for filmmaking and aviation. At last, he’s now got the opportunity to bridge the two with his latest feature, "Devotion.”

"Devotion” marks Dillard’s first studio feature after helming genre-bending indie darlings " Sleight " and "Sweetheart." The film tells the story of Jesse Brown ( Jonathan Majors ), the first Black Naval aviator in the US Navy, and his budding friendship with wingman ( Glen Powell ) during their tour at the height of the Korean War. The film diverges from the typical war movie archetype as it focuses on the interpersonal relationships shared between Brown and his fellow officers. As per usual, Jonathan Majors delivers a powerhouse performance in the leading role, exhibiting a resounding notion of warmth, and honesty, along with the reservation. His chemistry with the charismatic Glen Powell takes the emotions to uplifting heights.

Ahead of the film's release, Dillard spoke to RogerEbert.com about working with old-school war aircraft along with rigging cameras on the models, the boost of confidence he got from Jonathan Majors’ performance, and bringing his dad Bruce onto the set as a consultant on the film.

After doing “Sweetheart," what made you want to do “Devotion”?

My dad is a naval aviator. I've grown up watching the backseat footage of him in the cockpit and being obsessed with that image as a kid. I think that's also lowkey why I'm sort of obsessed with “Star Wars” and interstellar battles. The scene of Luke in the X-wing, I have that same footage of my dad for real. So wanting to play with that. I started looking for things around aviation. And truly, it could have been anything from science fiction to period drama. I just wanted to kind of do my movie in the cockpit. My agent sent me "Devotion." I had heard Jesse's name before because he was the first Black naval aviator. My dad is also numbered in that he's the second Black Blue Angel. I've heard Jesse's, by way of the number of Black folks. The thing that was kind of nuts was, I'm getting to read the script for the first time, which I cried the whole time because Jesse's story to me was just so extraordinary. It was lowkey my dad's story. What you always hope there's a personal tie in a real way. For it to be that severe and that specific to my dad was not a situation where I just wanted to make this movie. I'm kind of called to make the movie.

Was it difficult going from your small independent features to this massive expansive budget?

In a weird way, not really. When I was finishing “Sweetheart,” I was in a crazy motorcycle accident. It put me in a wheelchair for a few months, did a long rehab, and I took a break from everything. When I came back to work, I shot TV. I shot three shows back-to-back in 2019. That sort of got my set legs back a little bit. I think almost equally as important, it gave me a taste of what a bigger budget set feels like. I think the sort of the budget per day was way more "Devotion" and then it was slighter to “Sweetheart.” Yeah. To get to see what a crew of a couple of hundred felt like. To see not just having a first AD but a second AD and a second-second. You see how the departments expand so big because of that "Devotion" felt really organic. It wasn't just that big jump from the movie. It was actually a year of doing TV that helped me kind of find that.

What was the experience of shooting this expansive feature during the pandemic?

As you know, making movies it's already incredibly difficult. The pandemic just kind of added a kind of hurdle on top of something that was already difficult. So much of what I love about this job is the social component, I get dinner with the cast, and go to dinner with the crew. I love the familial aspect of having folks over on the weekend. We're kind of doing our best to make it a family. With the pandemic, we're also shot pre-vaccine. As close as I was to the material I was, and as personal as it was, the physical process, unfortunately, was forced to feel like more work. You had to find more ways to make it feel less so.

And then there's the stupid silly stuff, where you're trying to talk to a collaborator of yours and so much of our job is about emotional specificity. You're communicating with your partner, and you're always like, "Are you mad at me? Or can I just not see your eyes?" So that's tricky, especially when you're trying to convey really specific things. There's just a bog over it. So we totally figured it out. I think there is a surprising side effect of the pandemic, in that the experience of shooting really mirrored sort of the experience of the movie, in that we all picked up and left our family and kind of went into a hostile environment together.

And not that I'm ever going to say that going to shoot a movie is going to war, but there were some of these similarities. We're in confined spaces, trying to be safe, trying to take care of each other, and missing our people. I think that sort of bound us differently. And I think that's also sort of the heart of the camaraderie of the group because we're all in this kind of heightened situation together. You make lemonade.

What different aircraft models did you end up having to replicate or find for the aviation scenes?

One of the first things that I did when I came on board was missions. I was like first, we need Jonathan Majors. That's the guy. Then secondly, we have to do as much of this in camera as we can, which is difficult in a movie where all the technology is 70-80 years old. We brought on Kevin LaRosa, who was the aerial coordinator. We immediately started looking for all of these planes. The hero playing in the movie is a plane called the Corsair. There are, I think, 11 or 12 of them left in the world, and we managed to get six of them to the set. Then you have to paint them all to be part of the same Squadron, you've got to make them kind of look like they're the exact same model and do all of that stuff. So it ended up being kind of this weird antique treasure hunt to find all of the planes. We have these planes called the Bearcat. It's the scene where Jesse and Tom are flying in the beginning together, kind of through the boats. We have those planes, we have the MIG, the jet plane that shows up during the first mission. We have the military's very first helicopter. A helicopter so old for that plane to fly again, they had to borrow a piece from the Smithsonian. I think audiences are smart now, especially when you're telling a story in history, people are really sensitive to visual effects. You're going to need visual effects no matter what. You can't skip that. I think in camera to me is not just practice, it's kind of an aesthetic. We did our damnedest to put as much of that lens out for real as we could. It just feels better.

I read that you brought your dad as an advisor, to make sure everything is accurate. What was the decision behind doing that and also, the experience of having him on set?

It was really organic. When I came on board the movie, the first thing I did was send him the script. Then I asked him a thousand questions just about his own experience. All of these things are to try to understand Jesse better. And even though they're 30 years apart in the Navy, a lot of Jesse's and my dad's experiences are very similar. So once it came time to shoot, it was, "Well, of course, you should be down there!" I've never expected him to stay for as long as he did. Because they were there for my parents, which on one end is lucky. Having your parents come to work with you, is a whole vibe. I don't know why it's kind of overwhelming, because it's that time spent together is so rarefied and specific, and to have him there every day, good days and hard days. Sort of looking at him for the emotional continuity of what it i to do this job, what it is to have a family when this is what you do was totally overwhelming. I think that there was a moment where I kind of realized this is as big a deal for him as it is for me. And that sort of added a different lens of how I even felt about the movie and felt about his involvement in it. Do you know what the downside is? He'll never watch a movie of mine more than this one. It was really special. And I'm kind of forever grateful for that time we have.

How much rigging did you have to do to capture those cockpit sequences, especially on those old planes?

So "Devotion" is certainly kind of a sample platter of techniques. We did a lot of exterior rigging, where we put the RED KOMODO on the plane. We would remove panels of the airplane, recreate them with rigs welded onto them, and then put them back on. But you can only put one of those on at a time while you're researching. Because the pilot has to see how that camera affects the maneuverability. At a certain point, you've put too many things on the plane and the pilots go, "I don't like this."

In that first scene by the boats, Glenn and Jonathan are really in the backseat of a real warbird. With, I believe, six cameras jam with them, and they act to that entire scene, at altitude. That required quite a bit of on-the-ground rehearsal, we go over the lines, talk about the moments and where your eye line is, and what you're looking at, you do all of that. Then I'm like, "Okay great. You're gonna go up, you're going to shoot these five lines, come back down, and we'll review." Once we went into the war stuff, it was sort of a mix of things where we shot on an LED volume, and all have the backgrounds we shot at the real location. But now, we had our eyes in a gimbal lock. So I could actually communicate with a man, and we could go over those scenes. Obviously, that stuff is quite a bit more specific in terms of probable performance dances with the action. So we needed to do that stuff here on the ground. But again, going back to in-camera aesthetic, not in-camera, frankly, but thinking of our aesthetic. So even though it's artificial, it gives the feeling of it being real, because we're using all real elements.

One of my favorite things about the film is how it does discuss the Black experience where Jesse just wants to be an aviator not put into a box. Even down to his terms of friendship with Tom where even though you're trying to stand up for Jesse is still sort of a microaggression, it's very condescending. How'd you bring that extra authenticity to telling that aspect of the story?

I think that the big goal of the movie is, even though it took place in 1950, and we have modern conversations, hopefully, led by character, you never want the themes to be bigger than the people. We all know what that feels like. I think the fundamental dance of the movie is a sort of path to mutual understanding but in a way that is not so clean and cookie-cutter. Because we would joke all the time on set, we can't make a 1993 drama directed by an old white man movie.

This is not "Glory 2."

You know what that movie feels like.

Stuff I had to watch in sixth-grade social studies.

Exactly. So, the biggest key to avoiding that is Jesse having an agency and having an inner world, and similarly the conversation of "racism is bad" is so archaic. We've seen stories of how hard it is to get there, but slightly less often, how hard it is to stay there. And also how lonely it is, and I think that's something we all can tap into. There was that, and then there was also, this wasn't going to be the "freeze-frame on the high five credits start rolling, racism ended in 1950" movie. It was never going to be that and I think just embracing some of life, messy, nonlinear feeling of trying to figure somebody else out was what's the point. Jesse and Tom don't end up as best friends; they end up just getting there. Jonathan has said this a lot. I really love his sort of look at it, "you can be soulmates without being best friends." I think to be a soulmate, and that sort of larger degree of, the cosmic understanding of meeting yours, that sort of your time together on a spiritual level that kind of transcends even liking each other. So that was always going to be our goal, more than just making the plain 1993 version of this type of story.

What was one of the most difficult sequences to shoot in terms of the emotionally led components between all of the different characters, since a lot of the movie is about relationships more so than the war itself?

I think the hardest scene is actually two scenes that are kind of the same thing, but they're part of the same part. Right after their first mission, when Tom accidentally writes Jesse up, they kind of get into an argument. Basically, what it means to be there as a wingman was. What was ultimately really hard about that same thing was just thinking of finding how we do this and not hitting you over the nose and Jesse keeps his agency? How do we do it where Tom is not so naive and get it to a point where it's not Disney-clean? Trying to find all of that balance in what simply are two very not long scenes. Sorting within those scenes is the crux of their argument about the movie. You don't want it to be corny. You don't want to be melodramatic. And I think just finding that balance between what needed to be said and what didn't need to be said. That ended up I think, to me being the hardest five minutes.

What about the scene with Jesse in the mirror? How many takes was that?

Here's the beautiful thing about Jonathan Majors. It's maybe the second or third take that we use. And it's actually because of the camera and not him at all. I always think it's kind of interesting to note because it's such a testament to the type of actor Jonathan is. It was our second day of shooting. You normally want to give your actor a month to prep, and we'll figure it out when we'll get there and then we're gonna do that mirror scene. Jonathan so carefully and meticulously builds his characters in prep. Jesse was going to be just as realized on day one as he was on day sixteen. The sort of the culmination of the fruits of our walks in the park, and the poetry we shared, and the songs that we're sharing, and all of that stuff that you would do to sort of mind-meld and discover together, he makes sure that that's in place for production. So when we stepped into that it was a quiet day. You don't give Jonathan Majors direction, that's, "Let's go with a little more energy." He knows the assignment. My direction is quite a bit more technical where it's, "hold the glance a little longer before you drop your head."It ends up being, really specific to the relationship between the drama that he has embodied and the camera. As a director, I always believed in that man, but it does put a little wind in your sails and gives you a little boost of confidence when you see that performance on your second day of shooting. Like "Oh, okay. That's great. I love this movie. Everybody's gotta check this out." So that was really a beautiful and awesome thing to see from him.

"Devotion" opens only in theaters on November 23rd.

Rendy Jones

Rendy Jones (they/he) is a film and television journalist born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. They are the owner of self-published independent outlet Rendy Reviews, a member of the Critics' Choice Association, GALECA, and a part time stand-up comedian.

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