Based on the 2015 book by Adam Makos, Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice, Devotion is adapted to the screen by writers, Jake Crane and Jonathan A. Stewart, and directed by J.D. Dillard. This marks Dillard’s third feature, and his first foray into big budget filmmaking, after two terrific low budget genre films, Sleight and Sweetheart (I’m especially fond of Sleight). The film is a war drama that explores the evolving friendship between naval fighter pilots, Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) and Tom Hudner (Glen Powell), as they train and eventually take on missions early into the Korean War.
For those unaware, Jesse Brown was the first Black man to complete the basic flight training program in the US Navy. Upon first inspection, it wouldn’t surprise if one were to worry that this was another white savior narrative. One where Lt. Hudner comes to the rescue whenever Brown faces any sort of adversity, and ushers him through the film like a guardian. Devotion doesn’t operate like that, though. In fact, it actively works to dismantle those kinds of tropes, making it a story about two men coming to an understanding with one another, and Hudner just being there, listening, and learning as opposed to making condescending and superficial gestures.
That’s not to say there aren’t any tropes that the film can fall into. Christina Jackson plays Daisy, Brown’s wife. She is saddled with the typical concerned military wife role, and Jackson does a commendable job in giving her enough personality and in-the-moment agency to flesh her out more than these roles tend to be, but it’s still an archetype. And there are plenty of other archetypes, the stern but witty commander (Thomas Sadoski), the gang of soldiers constantly delivering stock jabs at one another (Joe Jonas, Daren Kagasoff, Nick Hargrove, Spencer Neville). But these things don’t affect the overall experience, especially since the rest of the elements at play are so strong.
Devotion isn’t like most war films in the sense that it isn’t an action film. We don’t get a full war sequence until it gets into the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the last half hour, though there are some tense flights in the meantime. It’s a much more subdued film, a more quiet film, and one that explores the things said and experienced among men just as much as the things that are left unsaid. The journey between Brown and Hudner, especially in their early encounters, is almost entirely internal, but the actors do a fantastic job of conveying their struggles and frustrations.
While Brown’s experience with racism is certainly a big part of the film, it’s not what the film as a whole is about. Thankfully, Dillard keeps some of the nastier experiences off-screen, with Brown describing the things he had to go through to Hudner. The film also shows Brown staring at himself in the mirror, repeating various insults and slurs – all written in a notebook – as a way to help him keep his cool when he encounters it out in the world. I don’t know how true to life that is, but as a way of exploring the pressures of being the “first” to do something, along with all the added hardships of being a Black man, and having to put up a front of strength despite everything is very haunting and effective.
I think it speaks to the talents of everyone involved that they were able to release a film about aviators the same year as Top Gun: Maverick, especially given Glen Powell is also featured in that, and at no point did I feel compelled to make any comparisons. The flight sequences are beautifully realized, the action has impact, and the writing is surprisingly nuanced. Majors fully envelopes himself, carrying himself with a brooding display that has every ounce of pain weighing on his shoulders like Atlas holding the world. Powell’s curious and compassionate demeanor plays off Majors really well, and it’s satisfying to see how he tackles more complicated emotional beats as the story goes along. I enjoyed Devotion a great deal, it’s a deeply felt story told with great humanity, while also not taking the easy way out with its themes, fully confronting the complexities of societal ills of the past. Many attitudes of which sadly still plague us to this day. I’m very happy with how Dillard was able to handle this kind of material following the film’s he’s made up to this point, and I can’t wait to see where he goes from here.
Devotion is now out in theaters.