TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022 REVIEW! Devotion is based on the true story of Jesse Brown, the first African-American pilot to complete the U.S. Navy’s basic flight training program and recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross. But the title could equally apply to Brown’s wingman, Thomas Hudner Jr., who received the Medal of Honor, as the film tells the incredible story of the sacrifices people will make because of the bonds of friendship in wartime. Because the events take place in the Korean War, and partly because of what happens, it isn’t the easiest story to adapt to a feature film. Still, director J.D. Dillard did a good job of staying fairly true to the actual historical events and finding realistic action and drama within these loose constraints.
Jonathan Majors’ career is really taking off, being cast as a huge Marvel villain, Kang, first appearing in Loki, and soon appearing in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and future Avengers movies. He does a great job as Jesse here, portraying a man who is accomplished, cautious, brave, highly motivated, and of course, devoted.
“…Jesse Brown, the first African-American pilot to complete the U.S. Navy’s basic flight training program and recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross.”
The temptation in many biopics is to play fast and loose with the details, make things more heroic, and amp up the drama. In Devotion, a few liberties were taken to make the events better conform to a narrative, but the basic core of the man and the history are intact. For example, in interviews, Jesse Brown said that by and large his superior officers and colleagues were professional and supportive of him. Sure we get a sense of some of the barriers and racism he faced, but these are in the form of brawls with drunken sailors, not being served, and the like. There’s no made-up officer giving him bullshit orders out of racism, and that is refreshing in that the film feels more authentic than Hollywoodized.
There is one old trope that Devotion indulges, a staple of military movies — the soldier that violates direct orders in order to do the right thing. This is a cheap way to amp up the drama and simultaneously show heroism, but one that usually takes me out of a film. Here though, at least the second time it happens, it is based on real events that I won’t spoil. So that one isn’t an invention — it is an actual instance of real-life drama and heroism. The first time someone disobeys orders may well be an embellishment, but it is such a beautiful parallel setup to the finale that I think it is worth it. At the script level, this is where Devotion shines — the story itself is amazing, and the best way to honor it is with a light touch to add themes and symbolism, never to grossly distort reality. Writers Jake Crane and Jonathan Stewart deserve credit for faithfully adapting the biography by Adam Makos.
