In the tense 72 hours before D-Day, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Captain James Stagg face an impossible choice–launch the most dangerous seaborne invasion in history or risk losing the war altogether.
‘Pressure’ is the latest film to tackle D-Day, an event that has been depicted so many times on screen that any new film really needs to either be very good or find something different to say about it. Thankfully, ‘Pressure’ does find a fresh angle, focusing not on the landings themselves but on the 72 hours beforehand and the increasingly fraught debate over whether the weather would allow them to go ahead. Andrew Scott plays Scottish meteorologist James Stagg, who finds himself having to convince General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) and the Allied leadership that the planned invasion on June 5th needs to be postponed, with potentially catastrophic consequences if he gets it wrong.
Weather forecasting might not immediately sound like the most exciting basis for a Second World War film, something the characters themselves occasionally acknowledge, but ‘Pressure’ does a very good job of demonstrating just how important Stagg’s work was. Scott is terrific in the leading role, capturing both Stagg’s stubborn conviction in his forecasts and the enormous pressure of knowing that thousands of lives could depend on them. The film builds plenty of tension from meetings, weather charts and conflicting forecasts, which is no mean feat given we all know how the story ultimately ends.
Brendan Fraser is also very good as Eisenhower, portraying the enormous weight of responsibility resting on his shoulders, while Kerry Condon provides typically strong support as his personal secretary, Kay Summersby. Some of the other performances are pitched rather more broadly, however, occasionally bordering on caricature, with Damian Lewis’s blustering take on Montgomery the most obvious example. The film also takes some artistic licence to heighten the drama, particularly away from the central story, but the core events surrounding Stagg’s forecast and the decision to delay the invasion are grounded in what actually happened.
There is no shortage of films about the Second World War or D-Day, but ‘Pressure’ finds an interesting way to tell a familiar story from a different perspective. Some artistic licence has clearly been taken for dramatic effect, but the key events surrounding Stagg’s forecasts and the decision to delay the invasion are remarkable enough without much embellishment. With Scott excellent at the centre of it all, it’s a well-made and stirring account of an aspect of D-Day that perhaps doesn’t always get as much attention as what subsequently happened on the beaches of Normandy.
Rating: 4/5
Directed By: Anthony Maras
Starring: Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser, Kerry Condon, Chris Messina and Damian Lewis
