It was more than evident for those who saw his breakout lead role in 2013’s Fruitvale Station that Michael B. Jordan was going to be a huge star. How big he has gotten may have taken a few by surprise however, particularly in such a short space of time, but if anyone has deserved it, it’s Jordan.

Not only has he been a knockout in the ring with the Creed franchise, but he’s also managed to muscle his way into the MCU with his role in Black Panther.

He steps in front of the camera for screen legend Denzel Washington, for what is only his fourth film directing, following a soldier who writes his son a journal whilst at war, based on a true story.

Working for the prestigious New York Times is journalist Dana Canedy (Chanté Adams). On returning to the family home for her father’s birthday, she’s quizzed over the recent break up from her boyfriend, but is insistent that there’s no chance of getting back together again. Which is just as well as while she is there, the family are visited by Charles Monroe King (Jordan), a 1st Sergeant in the US Army who was taught by Dana’s father.

Dana is certainly taken by him, but isn’t sure if she wants to get involved with a soldier, particularly one just going through a divorce as well as having a young daughter.

But involved they get, as a relationship quickly blossoms. So much so that Dana eventually gets pregnant, and just before he goes on yet another tour, presents Charles with a journal, for him to write down words of wisdom to pass on to his unborn child. It turns out to be an important document, as things don’t go well for Charles, on what will be his very last tour of duty.

Washington’s direction isn’t quite what you would expect for a film of this nature. Firstly there’s the structure to the narrative. With a diary-like premise, you would mostly expect a voice-over often reading out passages of the diary, over a montage of images. Washington completely ignores this structure, so much so that the journal itself doesn’t really get a look in. Instead Washington chooses to focus on the relationship itself, making the film more like a romance flick rather than a drama. And this certainly benefits one of its leads over the other.

Let’s be clear, this is not a Michael B. Jordan film. He may well be the male lead, but the focus is very much on Adams, who Washington is keen to capture as much of possible. To that end, she shines throughout, and certainly her stock deserves to be on the rise as an actress after this. Jordon is surprisingly adequate, happily allowing his co-star to take centre stage. But he feels like a supporting actor, just doing his bit and no more than that. That’s not to say it’s a bad performance, far from it, but his role as Charles is somewhat on the restrained and subdued side, which is a little disappointing considering his considerable talent.

It seems brave of Washington, or perhaps somewhat naive, to underuse one of the hottest properties in Hollywood, but Jordan’s loss is definitely Adams’ gain.

And Washington’s direction benefits from going against the grain for this type of film, as it jumps back and forth often through its timeline, without given too many clues to the audience as to where they are presently at, often due to enough going on in the scene to decode exactly that. So kudos for giving the audience some credit as far as that’s concerned.

With the journal itself playing a surprisingly small part in proceedings, Washington’s film is yet another average romance film, with a sprinkling of drama. Perhaps the fact that there was an inevitability regarding the outcome, Washington wanted to try an alternative to get there, which is fair enough, it’s just a shame it doesn’t entirely work.

And although it may not be a stand out role for Jordan, it does at least hint that he’s open to doing more romantic roles, and that he’s more than up to the challenge, even if Washington didn’t entirely think so.