Review - Devotion

Directed by: J.D. Dillard
Written by: Jake Crane, Jonathan A. Stewart
Starring: Jonathan Majors, Glen Powell, Christina Jackson, Joe Jonas, Thomas Sadoski
Running Time: 138 minutes
Rating: 4/5

Before the closing credits at the world premiere of Peter Farrelly’s Green Book during TIFF 2018, I remember turning to my friend Jason as we sat at the back of the orchestra section of the Elgin Theatre, watching the roaring standing ovation of the overrepresented older audience in attendance and saying, “this just won the People’s Choice Award, and I hate it.” It felt like torture when I was proven right days later, and even more so when it went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture months later. Like Spike Lee, I felt disgusted that a narrative like this, told and presented in this context, was not only a disservice to the subject matter, but to Don Shirely’s family specifically. It honestly felt like older (white) audiences couldn’t grasp any nuance of complex relationships of pre-civil rights racism or homosexuality.

Enter Devotion, Sony/Columbia’s potential dark horse submission to the awards race this year, that provides a large-format biopic experience that makes Green Book stain on TIFF’s legacy even more damning. J.D. Dillard, given a very conventional by-the-numbers “on the nose” screenplay by Jake Crane and Jonathan A Stewart, is able to weave a story that combines the emotional tones of Damien Chazelle’s underrated First Man and the excitement of Top Gun: Maverick.

“Going into the film on a whim... I was delightfully surprised by specific flashes of brilliance visually and emotionally when Dillard breaks away from the standard biopic conventions, and allows moments to linger and reflect on character moments that confront racism or celebrates love.”

Based on the novel by Adam Markos, Devotion centers the story of friendship between fighter pilots Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors), and Tom Hudner (Glen Powell), the former being the first African-American aviator to complete the U.S. Navy’s basic flight training program, against the backdrop of the beginning of the Korean War. As we are continuing to see Major’s star rise, Dillard gives him a meatier role that commands a lot emotionally, as Brown shows a lot of reserved deep-seeded fear of the systemic bigotry in his ranks, while Powell is also given a chance to shine when the moment needs him. It doesn’t feel like a step back from his role in Maverick, but it’s kind of weird to see Powell in two fighter pilot movies this year.  

Going into the film on a whim, based on the curiosity of how the film would play in the Cinesphere in the IMAX format (the film was not filmed with IMAX cameras, but rather exported in the IMAX DMR process), I was delightfully surprised by specific flashes of brilliance visually and emotionally when Dillard breaks away from the standard biopic conventions, and allows moments to linger and reflect on character moments that confront racism or celebrates love.

The reason why this movie belongs on a large-format screen is because the drama and action sequences demand it. A lot of attention to detail is given to the technical elements of flight patterns and commands during training, practice, and in action, while the large-scale drama, again very reminiscent of First Man, allows the vulnerability of certain moments to feel larger than they actually are.

From a festival perspective, it truly feels shameful that a dramatic biopic with this much maturity and respect for its subjects had all of its public screenings relegated to the Cinesphere, which requires its own journey from the main festival area around King and John Street, but when the film gets its wide release in late November, it definitely should be one to seek out.