Devotion

When I first saw the teaser trailer for this film I was extremely excited the history and war film buff in me jumped with joy, "finally a Korean war film" alas it is no 1917 or Dunkirk.

While this film offers some great visuals and solid performances from the entire cast it unfortunately never gripped me in any real emotional way. The two actors Johnathan Majors as Jesse Brown and Glen Powel as Tom Hudner both have great chemistry and their relationship is played out well but even with the amount of time they gave to both these characters I just couldn't seem to get attached.

This is also less a film about the Korean war and more about the relationship between these two pilots who fought in the war. Yet whatever the true history is between the two pilots and however many missions they flew together the film never felt to connect them as true brothers of war as I feel they were intended to be. This film contains all of two battle scenes, in a war film? That seems low.

After all this time being excited for this film I cannot help but feel a little disappointed. They had a great opportunity here to depict the Korean war as well as the story between these two pilots but perhaps with better direction, better pacing, and better storytelling this could've been a stronger film. I also feel my fellow audience members were a bit disappointed as well, some checked their phones multiple times and I'm pretty sure I saw someone leave early.

Oh well, it's not terrible but it's far from great. I wonder what Korean war vets, if they go out and see this film would think.

IMDb: 6/10 Letterboxd: 3/5

Watched in Theaters.

Devotion is paced like a documentary rather than a feature narrative film. The plot doesn't have an inciting incident, nor is there really any driving force to give the story purpose. It isn't a plot so much as a portrait of characters who happened to be involved in the Korean War.

It isn't until about halfway through the film that any action is seen, and in the meantime we get a LOT of downtime to examine the relationships between Jesse and his family/Jesse and his aviators.

These sequences are very often touching and compelling, providing profoundly satisfying insights into the dichotomy of loneliness and brotherhood that war offers. This-along with the film's excellent acting, capable visual direction, and moving musical score-makes Devotion a frequently captivating experience.

But because the story doesn't have a sense of momentum and cause/effect between sequences, it's far more forgettable than the filmmakers wished for it to be.

I loved this film, a beautifully told story of heroes of a forgotten war, about a friendship based on a trusting relationship, as it should be during times when a human connection is needed. Jonathan and Glen did a fantastic job; they had great chemistry. The film is criticized as boring and not having much action; come on. It is about two heroes, their heroic story, and their duty to their country. I think the movie had a good pace and the necessary battle scenes. The musical score is fantastic. I loved it and enjoyed it very much. Please, don't miss it and see it; it is a great story, don't listen to superficial moviegoers who love to ruin good films. Be your critic.

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.

This movie's reviews are absolutely fascinating. Everyone (this reviewer included) sees different things in this movie.

My view, as a female pilot who learned to fly in the mid 60s, was of a man who loved to fly and what he had to go through, but even that is just a part of what this is about.

He was a strong family man and friend. Some reviewers said he had problems with his squadron - I didn't see any of that. In fact the opposite - they were all strong personalities who teased one another and looked out for each other.

The flying segments were incredible - I have flown all of the formations in a T-6, including the missing man formation that was flown at the end of the film on the beach. Brought the tears.

The war portion was the most intense I have ever seen - and I truly think it was because it was in "slow motion", given the speed of the Corsairs, versus the jets of most war movies of today.

This movie is not like most - it gives us a taste of so many things. And it seems we see the only the parts we want to see most. Try to see it all.