Devotion

2022
PG-13
2h 19m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

30K

YOUR RATING

Glen Powell and Jonathan Majors in Devotion (2022)

The inspirational true story of Jesse Brown, the first Black aviator in U.S. Navy history, and his enduring friendship with fellow fighter pilot Tom Hudner.

Play trailer0:31

12 Videos

76 Photos

Action Biography Drama War

A pair of U.S. Navy fighter pilots risk their lives during the Korean War.A pair of U.S. Navy fighter pilots risk their lives during the Korean War.A pair of U.S. Navy fighter pilots risk their lives during the Korean War.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

30K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins & 10 nominations total

Videos12

Trailer 2:38

Official Trailer

Trailer 2:10

Official Teaser Trailer

Trailer 1:56

Devotion

Clip 2:57

The Cast of 'Devotion' Shares What It Takes to Portray Wartime Pilots

Clip 0:47

Devotion: Bridge Attack

Photos76

+ 71

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The US Navy named a ship in honor of Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the USS Jesse L. Brown FF1089. It was Knox Class, commissioned 17 Feb 1973. Decommissioned 27 July 1994.

Goofs
For winter flying in Korea pilots would have been dressed in "Poopy Suits", heavy, bulky, rubberized anti-exposure suits which were decidedly unglamorous.

Quotes
[Brown walks towards the restroom mirror and breathes deeply]
Jesse Brown: You ain't shit.
[breathing deeply again]
Jesse Brown: You ain't never landing that plane, nigger.
[continues to breathe deeply]
Jesse Brown: Boy.
[continued deep breathing]
Jesse Brown: Your monkey-ass shouldn't even be flying.
[Continues to breathe deeply as tears flow down his face. He grunts before shaking his head off and looks down. He then wipes his tears and looks at the mirror again before heading to the USS Leyte]

Crazy credits
With a message of gratitude, the director, as a child, is seen held by his father in his flight suit.

Alternate versions
For unknown reasons, the film switched distribution from Columbia Pictures after it's theatrical release to Paramount Pictures for it's home video release. However, the end credits of the film still say "Columbia Pictures Presents".

Connections
Referenced in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: The Illusion of Winning (2022)

Soundtracks
K.C. Caboose
Written by Rex Stewart
Performed by Brick Fleagle
Courtesy of Craft Recordings, a Division of Concord

User reviews187

Review

Featured review

6/10

A touching film but unfortunately fails to pack a punch

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.