On Movies & Movie Watching: ‘Devotion’ – If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again

Last night, I attempted to watch Devotion by playing the 4K UHD Blu-ray disc; I have the option of choosing either the physical disc or the digital copy I redeemed on Vudu on Wednesday, but I prefer the former playback method.

Streaming is fine most times, but it does have limitations and is highly dependent on Internet connectivity. And in the rare occasion when there are issues with bandwidth, Amazon Prime Video, Roku, and Vudu have issues; the movie or show will pause, play in slow motion, or cut out altogether. Thus, while digital copies are handy because you don’t need to bother with a disc and can save a little time that way, they’re my least favorite home media format.  

However, even though I usually don’t have playback issues with either 2K or 4K Blu-rays, there are times when things don’t go the way I expect. Last night’s attempt to watch Devotion was one such occasion.

Okay. So I take the disc out of its black plastic 4K UHD case – making sure my fingers don’t touch the underside – and insert it into the Samsung 4K UHD player I have in my room. I follow my usual routine and select my language options – English 5.1 audio and English subtitles – and then sit back to watch the movie.

Well, the video works fine, but does the audio? Not so much.

Perplexed, I stop the movie, go to the main menu, and go to the Bonus Features. I pick one of the two featurettes, then sit back and watch.

That part of the process does work. When the featurette, The Aviation of a Forgotten War, starts, it has sound. The narrator starts his introduction, and the actors (Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell) talk about how excited they are to be in the film about two real-life Navy pilots during the Korean War, so the player is okay, the TV is okay; it’s just the disc that’s a bit SNAFU.

So…I try watching the main feature again.

Once more, I get the video-but-no-audio thing again.

Ugh.

I still want to watch Devotion, though, so I stop the disc and open the Vudu app on my TV. I’m already logged on, so I don’t have to deal with the password thing. I go to My Vudu, then select My Movies, and there it is. Devotion is first on the queue.

Unfortunately, I – yet again – start watching the movie well past 9:30 PM, so even though the Internet gods favor me and the streaming is working flawlessly, I start getting sleepy. I don’t like falling asleep with the TV on, though, so I manage to turn the set off before I drift off to dreamland.

There is a bit of good news, though:

I tried the Devotion 4K UHD Blu-ray this morning, just to make sure the disc is not defective. Happily, once I chose my language options – same as before – and I hit Play Movie, the Paramount Pictures logo was accompanied by that little “Paramount fanfare” you hear when a disc boots up.

So, I guess I’ll try to watch Devotion again tonight – hopefully earlier than I did last night!