Three days before D-Day, Chief Meteorological Officer James Stagg (Andrew Scott) informs General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) that the military operation should be delayed.
If 100 minutes of weather chat sounds like your idea of hell, then feel the Pressure. A well-mounted, extremely efficient World War II thriller, this latest from director/co-writer/editor Anthony Maras delivers an absorbing lesson in filmic forecasting, as the fate of the free world seesaws on the vagaries of wind speed, precipitation, cloud cover and visibility levels. The result is a comfy old-school pot-boiler — at one point there is a literal ticking clock — anchored by the ever-brilliant Andrew Scott on tip-top form.
Based on David Haig’s 2014 play, Pressure is essentially a chamber piece set in the Allied military HQ in the run up to D-Day. We are shadowing meteorological expert James Stagg (Scott), a dour Scot deemed a “genius” by Churchill, who is brought in to assess whether the weather conditions are suitable for Operation Overlord. Reporting to General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser), it’s a case of cloudy with a chance of meatheads as the military establishment — including Damian Lewis’ Field Marshal Montgomery — refuse to hear Stagg’s prognosis that the weather is too inclement to launch. It’s an all too resonant take on powerful Americans rejecting expertise.
If this is competency porn of the highest order, Andrew Scott is its Dirk Diggler.
Soon Stagg is locking horns with American meteorologist Irving Krick (a slick-ass Chris Messina), Eisenhower’s right-hand weatherman who once predicted the conditions on the Gone With The Wind set. Krick relies on historical weather patterns. Stagg believes in science, fresh data and informed guesses. There’s tons of fun to be had in the two men battling for the ear of Eisenhower, a quiet new guy treading on the established loudmouth’s toes.
If this is competency porn of the highest order, Scott is its Dirk Diggler. The actor never makes Stagg likeable or sympathetic; instead, he is uptight but magnetic, his subdued personality underpinned by a bedrock of integrity and conviction. In a career full of highs, this is another stand-out. In some respects, given Scott’s subtlety, Fraser feels like he is in a different movie. His Eisenhower is a larger-than-life figure — like the weather, big and blustery — although he finds moving moments expressing his doubts about the invasion. He is well matched by Kerry Condon as his personal secretary. As in The Banshees Of Inisherin and F1, she is the gal among the guys, adding common sense and emotional weight amid all the testosterone.
When it comes to D-Day, Maras works wonders meshing staged combat action with wonderfully restored archive footage. But Pressure’s pleasures are mostly cerebral, smart people figuring stuff out under extraordinary duress. It’s so gripping, even your dad might stay awake.
Led by a stellar Andrew Scott, Pressure is a conventional but compelling look at a little-known vignette from the theatre of World War II. Small, smart and perfectly formed.
