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A14 PEOPLE & ARTS
Tuesday 22 November 2022
‘Devotion’ is a quiet tale of allyship amid heroics

By MARK KENNEDY scending flavor, though
AP Entertainment Writer he wouldn’t admit it. The
There must be something white pilot is always ready
about actor Glen Powell to jump to his Black friend’s
that casting directors asso- defense, be it a stare-down
ciate with the heavens. with intolerant U.S. soldiers
He’s played astronaut John or fussy French waiters. He’s
Glenn in “Hidden Figures,” the first to throw a punch,
voiced a NASA official in even when Brown wasn’t
the animated film “Apollo looking for violence. “I can
10 1⁄2” and has two roles fight my own fights. Been
this year as a hotshot Navy doing it for a long time,”
aviator. Brown tells his wingman.
Here he is in “Devotion,” And that’s when the film
kicking off the movie with gets interesting (although
an entrance that’s pure things get a little surreal
cocksure, smirking golden when their carrier docks in
boy, a replay of his earlier Cannes and the aviators
role as Jake “Hangman” somehow meet up with
Seresin in “Top Gun: Mav- Elizabeth Taylor.) This lesson
erick.” of how to be an ally for di-
But this time the year is 1950, versity comes into sharper
and Powell’s swaggering Lt. focus as the film progresses.
Tom Hudner is not the hero. This image released by Sony Pictures shows Jonathan Majors, left, and Glen Powell in a scene It is Hudner who needs to
The real star of “Devotion” from “Devotion.” evolve his thinking. It is why
is Ensign Jesse Brown, the Associated Press Hudner is so prominent in a
first African American to who skillfully mixes shots in ery slur and demeaning commanding officer. He film about a Black pioneer.
complete Navy flight train- tight quarters with excellent putdown he has been told plays it like a cool assistant When a group of Black sail-
ing. He’s played superbly aerial combat sequences. and repeats them in a mir- professor at night school ors who have come out on
and deeply by Jonathan The script by Jake Crane ror for motivation. who is likely to turn his seat deck to cheer Brown land
Majors. So why is Powell so and Jonathan A. H. Stewart Once Brown returns nightly backward during a lecture his plane on the carrier ap-
front and center? is a slow-burning affair that to his wife and baby daugh- to “rap with the kids.” proach him with a Rolex gift
The film is perhaps not what will have audiences tug- ter, the grimness dissolves. A tentative friendship to say how proud he makes
you were expecting. It is ging at the leash. In the domestic sphere, he blooms between Brown them, one says: “We see
not an action thrill ride, a It’s not a typical biopic with is a dotting father and lov- and Hudner, who sees in you.”
“Top Gun” set in Korea. lots of flashbacks. In fact, ing husband. The bond he the Black airman a striv- But Hudner also needs to
There is no “Highway to the there are none. We meet a shares with wife, Daisy (bet- ing pilot and an admirable see him. Not through white
Danger Zone.” It is, rather, a gruff Brown after he has en- ter than wonderful Chris- man. Both long for combat, savior lenses but as a man.
quiet portrait of an airman dured all manner of racism tina Jackson), is the rock having learned to fly in the “It was never your job to

over the course of a year, hazed, bullied and forced hard earth that allows him years after World War II just save Jesse,” Brown’s wife
and, to be honest, it’s really to repeat Navy tests mul- to soar. “Play nice,” his wife as the Korean conflict is tells him.
not so much about him as tiple times. His command- tells him. heating up. They both learn But, ultimately, this is a
about the notion of allyship. ing officer refused to pin The rest of the cast includes to wrestle with the Vought weird way to honor a man
Based on the book by the his lapel wings at gradua- a nifty but small part for Joe F4U-4 Corsair, a tempera- who would posthumously
same name by Adam Ma- tion. Such experiences he Jonas, showing lots of char- mental fighter aircraft. receive the Distinguished
kos, “Devotion” is assuredly reveals in off-hand com- ismatic promise, and Thom- Hudner’s fondness for Flying Cross, the Air Medal
directed by J.D. Dillard, ments. He has written ev- as Sadoski as the aviator’s Brown has a conde- and the Purple Heart.q

Chaka Khan tells stories through Apple’s Time to Walk series

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. tance of friendships during thing happens to you, that
AP Entertainment Writer a walk through her neigh- is just life happening to you.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cha- borhood in Santa Monica, So keep moving. And get
ka Khan wants people to California. stronger. It will strengthen
walk with her while she tells The episode features songs you.”
inspirational stories. including Khan’s “Woman Khan is among the nearly
Apple announced Monday Like Me,” Joni Mitchell’s 70 high-profile guests who
that the 10-time Grammy “California” and Mile Davis’ have shared their stories
winner will take part in an “Tomaas.” through photos and mu-
audio experience called “Don’t take everything so sic with Fitness+ users. The
Time to Walk, a series de- fricking seriously because series can be heard on
signed to help people walk it’s not,” Khan said during iPhone and Apple Watch.
more often. her episode. The singer is Other episodes have fea-
In the 32-minute episode, known for her array of hits tured Meghan Trainor,
Khan reflects on her up- including “I’m Every Wom- Constance Wu, Hannah
bringing in Chicago, how an,” “Ain’t Nobody” and Waddingham, Malala
Recording artist Chaka Khan attends the Angel Ball benefiting she found her better self in “Through the Fire.” Yousafzai, Sugar Ray Leon-
Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research in New York
on Oct. 24, 2022. Europe, learning the music “Life is just living,” she con- ard, Hasan Minhaj and
Associated Press business and the impor- tinued. “And when some- Naomi Campbell.q