Devotion - A movie filled with potential but fumbles at every storyline.
Devotion was released in 2022, and is based on the 2015 book titled, “Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice.” It stars Jonathan Majors (who is quickly becoming the next big thing…and kinda rightly so, the guys steals every scene that he is in), and Glen Powell who was that guy that in Maverick that was kinda the new Iceman.
One of the biggest problems that I have with this film can be identified early on…this film
doesn’t really know what it is, and what it is really about. It takes place in the 1950’s and is kinda about the Korean war, but not really. It begins with Tom Hudner (played by that guy from Maverick) being transferred to Fighter Squadron 32, he is kinda the lead in the film but not really. It’s here that he meets Ensign Jesse Brown, played by Majors, whom the film is really about but seems to be uncertain about that. Brown is kinda standoffish and is kinda of jerk, but as the film goes on you understand why.
This film is based on true events focusing on Brown, being the only African American member of the unit…in the 1950’s. After some flying scenes with Brown and Hudner, which look pretty awesome…we’re able to see Brown at home with his wife and child, Brown being a self-disciplined man and being devoted to both. Majors, was believable as a devoted husband and father and the actors seem to have good chemistry together.
As the film progresses, the issue of Brown’s race comes up more, however, I thought it was handled well, and not in the grossly manipulative way that is often the case in modern Hollywood… You begin to understand what motivates Brown as he tearfully calls himself by racial slurs looking into a mirror before taking a flight test with a new plane.
Later in the film, we learn that every time he was mocked, minimized and maligned because of his race, he would it write down, because he didn’t want to forget it. The whole thing is horrible, but the one thing that I found compelling was that he used that to motivate himself and make him better, and he never saw himself as a victim – though under such circumstances it would have been easy to do so.
We then see some interaction between Brown and Hudner, and the actors seem to contrast and play off each other well, with Brown actually inviting Hudner into his home before they are sent to the Mediterranean Sea preparing to fight off Soviet aggression in the area and to keep the Chinese and North Korean’s from invading South Korea.
After the squadron gets a short leave in Cannes France, they’re informed that war has broken out between North and South Korea…they learn that the Chinese have entered the war so they are sent to blow up some of bridges to keep the Chinese from crossing over. After a pretty sweet scene where Brown and Hudner take on a Russian jet, Hudner determines that they are taking too much fire from the Chinese that they cannot respond too, so he calls for a retreat. Brown, disobeys a direct order and goes on by himself to destroy the bridge.
The mission was successful and the bridge was destroyed, but Brown also disobeyed a direct order to accomplish it, which Hudner writes up in the report. Brown is ticked off about it because he was written up for insubordination, which will keep him from a promotion…saying that a strike on his record is different than a strike on Hudner’s. Which may be true, but he still disobeyed a direct order…I honestly don’t know why this was in the film…I think to further illustrate the racism of the time, but this was a terrible way to do that…because he actually disobeyed a direct order.
Anyway, later on we learn that some of the Marines that the squadron, particularly Brown, had run in’s with were pinned down. The squadron was sent to provide air support for the Marines which they do, but Brown’s plane is hit in the process…Leaking oil fast he has to put the plane down in enemy territory. After putting his plane down the other pilots fly around making sure he gets out of the plane.
Seeing that Brown was unable to get out, Hudner then crashes his plane also, in order to save Brown which he is unable to do because the weight of the cockpit has Brown’s legs trapped. A helicopter later comes to save them both, but they are unable to get Brown out, leaving him to die behind enemy lines. His lasts word’s to Hudner were, “tell Daisy (his wife) that he loves her.”
Several months later Hudner receives the medal of honor from President Truman. The film ends with Daisy looking out at the ocean while you have a voice over from Brown’s last letter to her. Where he tells her how much he loves her and describes himself as her devoted husband.
The whole time I was watching this movie I was trying to understand what was with the title of the film. I thought maybe it had to do with Brown and Hudner’s relationship…perhaps developing over the course of the film…despite all of the animosity and actual racism at the time, the bond they develop would supersede that, and in the middle of war none of that mattered. But that was not the case.
I thought maybe the title could come from both of the men being devoted to the mission which superseded any of their differences and any of tension of the times…Though, very different, the men had a common purpose that they could work towards together, both achieving a desired end, but that was not the case.
In the end, they give you the impression the title comes from Brown’s devotion to his wife. Which is fine, but they completely squandered the opportunity to develop this story line. This is what frustrated me so much about this film. It has no idea what it is. Is it a war movie…it had the makings to be a good one…all of the plane sequences were sweet, but it wasn’t.
Is it a love story, Brown’s love for his wife and child enable him to overcome great obstacles and to accomplish great feats of heroism, with the story focusing of Brown’s desire to get home to them. The actors (Brown and his wife) had great chemistry together and this would have been a wonderful story line, particularly with Brown being a strong, highly competent Black man who was devoted to his wife and child (which would have been a wonderful story to tell, given fatherlessness in the black today)…but they stumble on this story line as well.
Is this a film, about men from vastly different backgrounds that have to overcome biases and pride learning to work together seeing that they are better together than they are apart…even gaining a real respect and love for one another with a bond that developed, and was forged through war – the film doesn’t really do that either.
In the end it has all the makings of a great movie, but completely fumbles when it comes to telling the actually story, which is reflective of the vast majority of movies today. Write a good story first…and then focus on the bells and whistles.
Man Test
What about the man test? This movie is definitely not gay and you don’t have to feel bad about watching it, but I would feel much better about watching it if it was an actual war movie. And, this movie is a slow burn…which doesn’t help it build any man credibility and it feels much longer than it is, and it’s well over two hours. I began watching this film with my family of seven. After about 40 minutes or so, I looked around the room and was the only one left…
Christian Worldview
What about Christian worldview? This is hard one because they dropped the ball with every major story line that they could have run with, picking all of them and doing all of them haphazardly. The storyline of Brown overcoming all manner of adversity to become a great pilot in the face of opposition and racism, would have been inspiring and is certainly Christian to the core, because only Christianity has proper understanding of man being made in the image of God, thus giving the only foundation for unity without destroying diversity. But it doesn’t do that.
The storyline of Brown being a devoted Husband and Father would have certainly been awesome and much needed today. With masculinity being the glad assumption of sacrificial responsibility. It would have been really cool to stress this aspect of the story within the midst of the adversity of the times – to see Brown’s love for his wife and child overcome this – with his afflictions being eclipsed by love, which is certainly a wonderful picture of Christ’s love for His church and ought to be a wonderful picture of the Christian man and his home. But it doesn’t do that.
Or the story line of these two vastly different men coming together and learning to understand and respect one another – their brotherhood and their mission eclipsing their differences. Certainly, this is a Christian ideal – where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free; but Christ is all and in all. But it doesn’t do this either.
Overall, this film was grossly disappointing because it had such potential. Because of this, I give it a C+
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