THE STORY – 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.
THE CAST – Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser, Kerry Condon, Chris Messina & Damian Lewis
THE TEAM – Anthony Maras (Director/Writer) & David Haig (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 100 Minutes
Besides historians and some World War II-obsessed fathers, how many people think about the meteorological patterns that influenced the Allies’ decision to invade Normandy? The answer, apparently, is playwright David Haig, whose fascination with the subject has taken this story from his stage production to the silver screen all these years later. Haig, alongside filmmaker Anthony Maras, attempts to bring the storm to life with “Pressure,” a war drama that seeks to amplify the stakes of the unique situation that forever defined world history. Instead, it’s merely a muted outing, straining to translate the strengths of its stage origins into a passable Oscar-bait drama that, if anything, will mostly satisfy filmgoers of a certain age.
Maras sets the stage by opening the film with imagery of storm systems captured in the atmosphere. Massive waves of water come crashing down onto the earth as man himself exists merely at the behest of nature. This powerful display of the elements’ volatility models the savagery at the heart of this globe-spanning conflict. “Pressure” is told through the perspective of Andrew Scott’s James Stagg, a military captain and chief meteorologist who is requested at the behest of United States General Dwight Eisenhower, played by Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser. Stagg’s strict, by-the-books approach immediately clashes with the culture of the weather team run by the braggadocious meteorologist Irving P. Krick, played by Chris Messina. Soon, Stagg learns the reasoning behind his inclusion on the team as Eisenhower presents him with an impossible assignment: predict the perfect forecast three days out for one of the largest ground-scale invasions in modern military history.
“Pressure” is a feature that rides the coattails of its premise to the absolute limit, as the hunt for the most accurate weather prediction sends Stagg and his colleagues on a race against the clock filled with all the expected tribulations one would expect from a film of this pedigree. Audiences watch Stagg embody the black sheep genius archetype amongst a group that consistently scoffs at his warnings about the tumultuous conditions that could jeopardize the entire mission. Yet, despite our knowing the outcome of D-Day, “Pressure” suffers because the immediacy so desperately emphasized by Eisenhower is never truly conveyed to the audience. The film’s pacing never sustains the intensity needed to keep viewers engaged in Stagg’s struggles, both in this impossible endeavor and in the strife of his personal life.
It also doesn’t help that the screenplay by Haig and Maras still feels better suited for the stage, as the boilerplate drama that arises from characters confined to a single setting largely dissipates once the scale expands. Maras’s direction is adequate, bringing all the pieces together, even if the film operates at a somewhat lethargic pace throughout.
Most of the ensemble’s performances are at least entertaining, but it’s far from anyone’s best work, as the writing holds the cast back from taking their characters beyond the one-note roles they serve within the narrative. Stagg, as a character, is too stoic for his own good, even as Scott attempts to chip away at that exterior as the film progresses. Messina purposely plays up the overly confident antagonist whose whole purpose is to thwart any progress or goodwill in the eyes of Eisenhower’s cabinet. His constant hammering on previous weather patterns becomes peculiar and grating to the point that audiences can practically feel Stagg’s frustration. Kerry Condon, who plays the tough-as-nails Kay Summerby, is mainly present to reaffirm any doubts Stagg finds within himself on his mission to prove the impossible.
Then there’s Fraser as Ike himself, whose larger-than-life reputation may simply be too broad for the actor to fully bring to life. One has to question whether Fraser is slightly miscast as a titan of American military history and the future president of the United States. It’s easy to understand why a role like this would be enticing for an actor. Still, Fraser is largely relegated to delivering crowd-pleasing line readings and bursts of righteous anger that feel engineered for an awards season sizzle reel. It’s difficult to take him seriously at times, especially when he’s at odds with Damian Lewis’s Bernard Montgomery, a British military officer undermining his authority at every turn. Still, it’s Fraser’s chemistry with Scott that gives “Pressure” the necessary spark to keep going. The two together are compelling enough to make audiences wonder why more of the film isn’t centered around their relationship.
“Pressure” aims to live in the shadow of films like “Darkest Hour” and “The Imitation Game,” military biopics from the 2010s that have long since faded in the minds of many who saw them. It’s not that “Pressure” is a poor film by any means, but rather one we’ve seen countless times before. It’s an engaging entry point into this well-known historical event, but there’s only enough beneath the surface to make it, at best, a moderately amusing history lesson.
