‘Devotion’: Cast and Character Guide: Who’s Who in the Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell Film
The runaway success of Tom Cruise‘s Top Gun: Maverick proved moviegoers could still be entranced by well-orchestrated plane battles. An upcoming movie will test if that attraction remains strong when Cruise isn’t involved.
Devotion does star another Maverick alum. But this film tells a story more grounded in reality, centering on the relationship between two fighter pilots who became legends during the Korean War.
‘Devotion’ is a Korean War epic about the real-life journeys of two soldiers
Devotion is an adaptation of the 2017 best-selling book Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice by Adam Makos.
The central figures in this story are Lieutenant Tom Hudner and Ensign Jesse Brown. The two men joined the Strike Fighter Squadron 32 during the Korean War from very different backgrounds. Brown was the first black man in U.S. Naval history to become a fighter pilot. Hudner decided to forgo Harvard to join the Navy. Despite the racial segregation of the time, they became best friends, bonding on the battlefield to become the Navy’s most celebrated wingmen.
The movie is directed by J.D. Dilliard, who previously helmed Sleight in 2016 and Sweetheart in 2019. He also directed episodes of The Outsider, The Twilight Zone, and Utopia in 2020. It’s easy to make a connection between Dilliard and the material of Devotion. His father, Bruce, was a Naval flight officer and the second African-American selected to fly for the Blue Angels squadron of the Navy.
The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12 and will premiere exclusively in theaters on November 23.
‘Devotion’s Jonathan Major and Glen Powell are both stars on the rise
Brown is played by Jonathan Majors. Majors is amid an ascension toward true movie stardom.
He broke out in the indie movie The Last Black Man in San Francisco before showcasing his potential as a leading man in more mainstream fare like HBO’s Lovecraft Country, Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, and the Netflix western The Harder They Fall. Majors is now set to be one of the main villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Kang the Conqueror and will be Michael B. Jordan’s antagonist in Creed III.
Hudner is portrayed by Glen Powell, who is also credited as an executive producer on Devotion. He read the book and was so moved by the story that he brought it to the production company Black Label Media to begin developing it into a movie. Of course, this is the second time he’s played a pilot this year after taking on the role of “Hangman” in Top Gun: Maverick.
Thomas Sadoski (The Newsroom) is their squadron division leader Richard “Dick” Cevoli. Musician Joe Jonas plays fellow pilot Marty Goode. Serinda Swan (Coroner) portrays the actor Elizabeth Taylor who Hudner and Brown met briefly while on tour.
Early reviews speak highly of ‘Devotion’
The response to Devotion following its showings at film festivals was mostly positive. The movie currently has an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Many critics praise the performances of Powell and particularly Majors for lifting the material above your standard biopic.
Whether that positive buzz leads to good results at the box office remains to be seen. Historically, a war epic glorifying the heroism of American soldiers has been an easy way to attract people to the theater. But the industry has changed so much that any film that isn’t tied into a pre-existing IP feels like a financial roll of the dice. (Coming out in the same month as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a tough spot.)
No matter how Devotion performs in theaters, it’s a well-made movie that treats its subjects with an appropriate level of care and reverence.
