Devotion

Devotion

The harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.

  • Released: 2022-11-23
  • Runtime: 100 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, History, War
  • Stars: Ava Michelle Thompson, Alexander Goldstein, Jonathan Majors, Glen Powell, Christina Jackson, Thomas Sadoski, Joe Jonas, Joseph Cross, Daren Kagasoff, Serinda Swan, Nick Hargrove, Boone Platt, Matt Riedy, Logan Macrae, Spencer Neville, Kenneth Trujillo, Adetinpo Thomas, Emily Brinks, Aleks Alifirenko Jr., Elizabeth Harlow
  • Director: J.D. Dillard
 Comments
  • CorsairCarello99 - 17 June 2024
    Fantastic Film!
    Devotion was absolutely awesome! It was a great film about how our nation's military service members can be great heroes because of their love and devotion to their family and friends. Devotion was also a great story about how we should be against racial injustice because racism is so unkind and unjust. What I also really liked that the story talked about was that all human life is valuable, the different trainings and living conditions our military service members had to endure, and how the Korean War is sometimes referred to as "The Forgotten War". The action was cool. There was beautiful scenery. There were some funny moments. Without doubt I strongly recommend Devotion because it's a fantastic film! Have a great day, and goooo Devotion!
  • trinaboice - 26 October 2023
    Jonathan Majors gives a powerfully emotional, stellar performance.
    IN A NUTSHELL: Based on a true story, this is a dramatic Korean war movie, but more importantly, is about Jesse L. Brown, the first African-American aviator in the U. S. Navy. The Navy named a ship after him in 1973. We've seen tons of movies about World War II, but not very many about the Korean War, which is often called "The Forgotten War." The powerful film was directed by J. D. Dillard, and written by Jonathan C. Stewart, Jonathan A. H. Stewart (that had to have been confusing), and Jake Crane.

    THINGS I LIKED: Jonathan Majors gives a powerfully emotional, stellar performance.

    Glen Powell does a good job and gets to wear the actual Medal of Honor at the end of the movie that was given to the real Tom Hudner Jr. He also co-produced the movie with the director.

    Some of the flight scenes were actually filmed in Wenatchee, Washington to look like Korea. Most of the jets shown in the movie have been decommissioned, so a lot of CGI was used.

    The director hired Kevin LaRosa to help with the dogfight scenes since he did such a fantastic job designing those action sequences in the hugely popular movie Top Gun: Maverick (2022). Try to see this movie on the biggest screen you can, just for the action sequences in the air.

    The cinematography by Erik Messerschmidt was outstanding.

    Nice musical score by Chanda Dancy and the sound department did such a good job that you really felt like you were there.

    THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: The film is filled with lots of cliches and seems to follow the biopic formula to a T.

    The movie takes a very straightforward and chronological approach to storytelling and is very slow-moving.

    I'm definitely not a Korean War buff, but I hear that there were many inaccuracies shown in the film.

    Lots of talking and not as much action as you'd hope.

    TIPS FOR PARENTS: Kids might be a bit bored.

    Some "light" profanity People in perilous situations Military violence.

    !
  • NeonRainSurfing - 27 June 2023
    What a waste of time this was
    The pace of the movie is incredibly slow. Nothing worthwhile happens for the whole first hour.

    The problem is, Jesse Brown was a remarkable man who worked extremely hard to overcome hardship and prejudice to graduate and become an aviator. That's the exceptional, and interesting, part of his life (plus another, we'll come to it). The movie doesn't show any of that though, as it begins when Brown is already a pilot.

    His missions in Korea just aren't that interesting; the only interesting action sequence in the film is an air-to-air dogfight that never actually happened. They had to make it up, because strafing tiny dots on the ground is boring cinema. You -can- make it interesting, but you have to make viewers care about the stakes and that's hard. Hey look, a MIG!

    Which brings us to the most important part of the film: Brown and Hudner's interaction. Brown (spoiler!) was probably hit by small arms ground fire and had to crash-land behind enemy lines. Since he was wounded and unable to escape the wreck, Hudner chose to crash-land to help him get out (but couldn't).

    That's very moving! So why does everything the two men say to each other throughout the movie sound so wooden and soulless?

    Hudner, in particular, feels like a cardboard cutout. Him crashing to help his friend should be the emotional climax of the film. But it can't be, because the film should have built up to that point, and doesn't.

    What a waste of time this was.
  • rehmankhilji - 12 January 2023
    Mediocre
    War movies are always exciting to watch, firstly as its based on true story and one can feel the connections with the characters played.

    However, this movie on one chapter from US Korean war was a mediocre presentation. There are certain moments where you may find the movie to be touchy however it is too slow, the movie is not having any excitement, an strong action scene, it is very dull at many moments and that is where you may find the movie boring.

    The story could have been more interesting if the background the main character, showing his training to the level of pilot could have brought some good to the movie.

    All in all, you watch or you dont, not too much difference.
  • EyeSeeMovies - 10 January 2023
    Film struggled with pacing and everything else in between
    A slow snooze fest. The movie spent way too much time on side stories that failed to add or make me care more about the characters. It lacked devotion to character development, and tagged with boring dialogue. It tried to build up the anticipation with action, but couldn't deliver an impactful punch. I felt a small glimpse of touchy moments only because it's based on a true story. All in all, the movie falls short on many levels. When compared against other movies in this genre, it's even worse. I would not recommend anyone to watch this movie, but highly suggest movies like Men of Honor, that did everything so much better.
  • HawkeyeDJ - 23 December 2022
    This is an accurate portrayal
    This is the true story of ensign Jesse L. Brown, the U. S. Navy's first black aviator and his wingman, Tom Hudner.

    The beauty of this film is that the makers did not Hollywood up the story. They didn't take liberty with the events to make anyone larger than life. They simply present the account as it was told by the witnesses. They stayed true to the known record.

    Of course there is the racism, but it is handled in a somewhat subdued manner. It was the times but no one portrayed as a caricature or one-dimensional. It is left to the viewer to judge as they will.

    The performances are excellent; the writing superb.

    The story told is true. It is a moving portrayal that depicts the bravery and commitment to duty these men displayed and the heartbreaking realities of war.
  • pixrox1 - 13 December 2022
    This picture illustrates how unreliable . . .
    . . . red china is when it comes to maintaining world peace. They have so many excess people that they send wave after wave of "cannon fodder" footmen in usually fruitless attempts to overwhelm Allied machine gun positions when the temperature is 30 degrees below zero. A steady diet of bats gives these nefarious Communists the ability to gun down low-flying United Nations fighter jets with lucky rifle shots. Using their pernicious over-population to spread across Asia like some blob from a horror flick, these pernicious polluters consume most of the World's resources, while only producing wicker handcuffs, two-finger piano music and grub named after dog chow. Worst of all, they hold America's decorated hallowed dead war heroes hostage even after they've passed.
  • Slarkshark - 4 December 2022
    The Forgotten War
    A brave story during the Korean War which doesn't always get a lot of attention.

    Stunning cinematography and visuals with the F4U Corsair, a magnificent aircraft. The battle scenes were brief and toward the end of an already lengthy run time, though they were fairly well done.

    I was finding it somewhat difficult to like the protagonist, Jesse Brown. He had a massive chip on his shoulder and understandably so. However, so much so that it actually inhibits the audience actually liking him. It gets almost laughable when he disputes what actually occurred during a mission. I get it, but at the end of the day he chose that course of action.

    Glen Powell showed he can be the complete opposite persona as he was in 'Top Gun: Maverick' while still being a Navy aviator.
  • msbreviews - 29 November 2022
    Devotion is a compelling character study.
    If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free thoughts, please follow my blog to read my full review :)

    "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.

    It may not have the energetic, intense action of "that other planes flick", but it doesn't need to either, as the film's engine is found in the in-depth arcs of each character. Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell are phenomenal, bringing tremendous authenticity to their roles and interactions.

    A character study that won't have the success of its genre counterpart but that deserves to be seen on the big screen."

    Rating: B.
  • brentsbulletinboard - 26 November 2022
    Could Have Been Better
    When paying homage to a war hero, one would assume that the character in question deserves a fitting tribute. Unfortunately, director J. D. Dillard's biography of African-American Korean War aviator Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) comes up somewhat short. The film's first half is tediously paced and includes considerable extraneous material, with a narrative that's rather episodic in nature. The characters (other than the protagonist) and the picture's principal themes (including Brown's struggle to fit in to a newly integrated military) also feel somewhat underdeveloped, leaving some of the potentially strongest elements of this story on the table. And, despite an apparent intention to make up for oversights that have caused the Korean conflict to be called "America's forgotten war" (as noted in the film's opening graphics), the picture never really picks up on that idea to any great degree, treating the war as more of a backdrop than anything else. Thankfully, this biography makes up for these shortcomings somewhat in the second half as the story becomes more focused and considerably more compelling, but that's not enough to save the production overall, despite some fine camera work and a solid performance by Majors as the devoted airman. This offering, despite apparent good intents, could really have used some judicious retooling before being released to allow it to live up to its potential and to give Airman Brown the recognition he truly deserved.