There have only been a bit more than one hundred English language feature films made about the Korean War; about half that many if one strictly chooses combat stories.  I should know; I wrote a book about this topic (Korean War Filmography, the most comprehensive and, I think, informative and entertaining book written about the movies that tell stories of America’s Forgotten War).  Most of those titles are average war films, some are pretty dismal.  Devotion is easily the most important Korean War movie to arrive this century; it’s probably the most important, and best, Korean War film since MASH more than fifty years ago.

J. D. Dillard’s film follows the real characters of two Naval aviators, Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) and Tom Hudner (Glen Powell) as they spend peacetime service preparing to defend Europe against an increasingly hostile Soviet Union in 1950.  Then the North Koreans attack South Korea and it’s off to the Far East.  Brown and Hudner fly together as a pair, each defending and supporting the other.  They bomb bridges along the Yalu River and protect the Marines freezing at the Chosin Reservoir.  Then one fateful mission occurs which tests them to their limits.

This film resonates because it tells a true story, and because it tells an inspiring story.  It isn’t all aerial thrills, either; the airmen spend time at Cannes, partying with Elizabeth Taylor (Serinda Swan) when they learn of the North Korean invasion.  Its flying sequences are strong, made more fascinating because the aircraft being used for the first time by Flying Squadron 32 is the F4U-4 Corsair, a larger propeller-driven plane with a nose so big that the pilots have difficulty seeing past it while trying to land on the aircraft carrier Leyte.  Then, on their first sortie, they encounter the Russian-made MiG-15, a jet much faster than their planes. All of this plays out as we learn about the pilots, the men who support their missions, and their loved ones back home awaiting their return.

Devotion is particularly inspiring because it depicts how barriers were broken.  Jesse Brown was the first black aviator to fly for the Navy and he was shunned by some of his colleagues, as well as other servicemen.  Like Jackie Robinson he was forced to endure abuse and insults and increased scrutiny without the freedom to fight back.  At the heart of this story is his relationship with Tom Hudner, which isn’t always sunshine and roses, but is handled adroitly and compassionately.  This is important material and it is done very well, yet I cannot help wondering if the story could have been told without Brown’s color being such an important element.  I’m thinking of Duel at Diablo, a western with James Garner and Sidney Poitier — and Poitier’s color is never mentioned.  It is clear that from time to time other characters are considering it, but it is never the primary focus of the story, and I’ve always appreciated that about that particular film.  Here, there is probably no getting around its primary importance; maybe someday stories can be told where a person’s color is simply not so important.

I really, really liked the first half of the film, the way that it establishes the setting and the pilots training in peacetime, the increased threat of communism at the time, and then the invasion.  The aerial battle scenes are good, although they are digitally done; few Corsairs are still around to actually fly again.  For a time I felt that this could be one of the greatest Korean War films I have seen.  Even now I think it may be among the top ten.  But I think the film loses some of its magic because it must stick to the facts about these men as they actually occurred.  Fiction is often more provocative and revealing than reality; I felt that the story’s concluding act is not as dramatic or effective as it could have been — which I realize is weird and possibly blasphemous, considering that it tells a true story.  Maybe I’m just wishing that things would have worked out differently than they did.  It’s still a fine film, well worth watching, enjoying and contemplating.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  8 December 2022.