Quick review: It's not bad. Some decent air and ground combat scenes, set in the Korean War. But there really is not much in the way of character development either. The only recognizable actors in this are Glen Powell playing Thomas Hudner, a Korean War pilot, and Serinda Swan, probably best known for one of those Marvel shows where she had really long red fake-looking hair (though I knew her from "Creature" which I reviewed years ago on the TV & Movies MB on this site), playing Elizabeth Taylor. One of the Jonas brothers is in it, too, but not the one who played a naval aviation serviceman in "Midway." I could not tell you anything about his character, because he is one of four pilots in a squadron with Hudner and the focal character of the movie, Ensign Jesse Brown. The best I could say about them is that one of them has slightly lighter hair than the other four, and I THINK the one with lighter hair might be a little bit racist.

Supposedly, this movie is about Brown, the first black naval aviator in the US military. However, the point of view character is arguably Hudner, as he joins the squadron and is introduced to Brown and the other pilots. There are a couple of formulaic scenes with Brown and his wife and child, but it's really more like the plot is about Hudner's getting to know Brown and becoming his friend. We learn about Brown's struggles with racism in he service when he tells Hudner about them. A problem in their relationship arises when Hudner makes a relatively innocent mistake, that might cause problems for Brown and then Brown points out how Hudner's effort to fix it won't do any good. I suppose the arc of the film is Hudner coming to accept that the best way to service his relationship with Brown is to just be there for him, instead of trying to do the right thing or help him. Kind of like the supposed truism for a relationship that you should not try to solve her problems, just listen to them. Ironically, this is not something Hudner is ever shown failing at, and the mistake he makes is in treating Brown like he would any other pilot in his squad, except in this particular case, it will make problems for Brown. Hudner had stood up for him on multiple occasions before this, at one point even facing down a bully until Brown and the rest of the squad left, at which point Hudner somewhat comically realizes he is standing there alone and departs, post haste. But the standard is to just support Brown, regardless of whether or not that is technically what one are supposed to be doing according to the definition of one's duties as an officer and a combat pilot. OTOH, he is also relieved of his guilt at what he perceives as failing to help Brown, because all that matters to Brown is that he be there, which Hudner was.

So the closest thing I can detect in the vein of character progress is rather uninspiring. But the flying scenes were neat and given that he is the one with the character arc, and is the audience's eyes and ears getting to know the featured character, as well as historically, having a much more cinematic experience in Korea, you would think Hudner should be the main character. But the film seems to think Brown is, when the most interesting thing about him is "first black navy pilot", rather than any other accomplishments. They even sort of strip that bit away from the movie, as it picks up after he has already more or less made it, and holds an officer's commission while being generally accepted by his squadmates and commanding officers. The discrimination he is shown to face in the service amounts to a marine who disapproves of his holding the rank and position he does, and being in different branches of service, is functionally no different then having an asshole with a grudge against you at work. There is no indication that his superiors are out to get him or attempting to prevent his career's progress. Every negative action they take with regard to him is very plausible as something they would have done for anyone else, and that his skin color did not play a role in those decisions. The film does not appear to be claiming it does either, and though he claims at one point that an incident which might pass unnoticed on a white man's record will have a negative impact on his career, we see no proof that he is not simply being hypersenstive or that he was right in his belief.

What this means, is that in a movie about a character overcoming racism (which the real life Jesse Brown did, by any objective standard), we see very little racism. Most of the hate speech and racial slurs are actually uttered by Brown himself, in a mirror, as part of his motivational routine.

It might be more accurate, in point of fact, to say that the movie is about the friendship between Hudner and Brown, rather than either man's naval career. That would probably explain some of the choices of focus, and the excision of most of the struggles of the first black naval pilot.