Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) was the first Black Aviator, and it must be common knowledge that he faced struggles because of the color of his skin. Although this is Jesse’s story, we cannot help but become acquainted with Tom Hudner’s (Glen Powell) POV. How can a two-hour and eighteen-minute movie give us so much, yet not enough, to care about the story fully?
Devotion is about Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner’s friendship as they embark on the lesser-known Forgotten War as/ Aviators. At first, Jesse appears to dislike Tom, but it’s because he has difficulty trusting people.
The film needed a POV shift of Jesse Brown from the start. Midway through, we do see his motivations on why he flies for the Navy– sure, it’s for his family– but he’s mostly doing it to prove to everyone that thought he couldn’t achieve anything. Jonathan Majors’ performance was excellent, but there was this disconnection of care toward Jesse. We need to know his character to care about him! Why is he distant from Tom Hunter? Any person with a brain would assume it’s because Jesse is black and he is apprehensive about someone new joining the team, but we need to see why he feels this way because then we’re just seeing a person acting indifferent with no reason. We would need more showing rather than telling, like in the novel.
In the book, we jump back from the present to the past, and we get firsthand insight into these characters. There were too many scenes where Jesse told Tom his struggles rather than showing them. Of course, the audience doesn’t want to see a trauma fest, but to portray a convincing story, we need to care about the character from the get-go. The most we get is when he’s with his family.
We get some brief moments of the discomfort of racism, but most of it comes from Jesse. He repeats a mantra of what every negative thing that has been said to him. A grand scene, yet it’s not paired with anything else. We don’t see those hard times. Instead, his brothers are there to “save” him. So there isn’t much of a feeling of sympathy, only by word of mouth when he tells Tom (and the audience) that he has faced adversity.
Devotion doesn’t add to anything. Yes, it’s based on a true story– a novel even, but to convert it into a film, it has to mean something. The audience got bland storytelling, slow pacing, and insufficient character development.
What does work is the war sequences and spreading awareness of the Forgotten War? Within the movie’s third act, we are granted beautiful heart-shattering arrangements that ultimately lead us to Jesse’s final act of courage. And the last act of Jesse hitting the ground was a combination of heartache, anxiety, and the reality of what these veterans went through.
But we can’t ignore The biggest gripe– the pacing. Midway through, the film focuses on their time in
France. These scenes, to some extent, are fun, but it’s just a little too long to take seriously, and overall, doesn’t add anything to the plot, except a few scenes with the young actress Elizabeth Taylor. Random and out of place.
This is Glen Powell’s second time playing a pilot in the same year, and it’s very distracting. I don’t see Hudner. Instead, I see Bagman from Maverick. Maybe it’s the planes or Powell’s ever-so-natural smirk– he’s forever Bagman in my eyes.
But at the end of the day, none of this really matters. This story is about how friendship and Glen and Johnathan’s chemistry does steal the show, and it’s convincing to some extent. Most of their scenes are filled with exposition dialogue about Jesse’s life. We only get a little insight into Tom, even if he is a part of the duo. Again– the problem surrounds our character building. What we know about his background is he’s cautious, straight edge, and a helpful friend. What was his childhood like? Why does he fight? We never find out!
Rating: 3.5/5
This movie is a snooze-fest, no doubt about that; however, there is heart to this story. Powell and Majors’ chemistry is uncanny, regardless of the awkward pacing. They bring us to this grand journey of brotherhood in the army with the other characters implementing what it’s like to live in close quarters while the whole world is against you– all you have is the men next to you.
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