Film: Devotion
Cast: Jonathan Majors, Glen Powell, Serinda Swan, Thomas Sadoski, Joseph Cross, Joe Jonas
Director: J.D. Dillard
Rating: 3/5
Runtime: 139 mins

This film is neither ‘Top Gun’ nor its sequel ‘Maverick,’ though it traverses a similar path about naval aviators getting war-fit through training tough. This biopic, based on real-life experience, adapted from Adam Makos’ book Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice, tells a civil rights story about Jesse Brown who held the distinction of being the first Black aviator to complete the navy’s flight training program, serving in the Korean war with Hudner as his trusty wingman. Director JD Dillard’s screen dramatization of the decorated fly boys belonging to the Fighting 32nd squadron and their time in uniform does not have the jaunty daredevilry that made ‘Top Gun’ and the sequel ‘Maverick’ so thrilling. The superficial similarities to aerial dogfighting notwithstanding, there’s not much that’s compelling save for the emotional connection that defines the developing bond between the two central flyboys.

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