Pressure

We've all seen different strategies in which to plan an attack for a war, but how about a general in WWII hinging his attack prior to D-Day on a meteorologist report? Well, in "Pressure" this is what exactly happened to ensure the US attack toward the Germans at Normandy was successful.

In the seventy-two hours leading up to D-Day, all the pieces are in place except for one key element--the British weather. Britain's chief meteorologist officer Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott) is called upon to deliver the most consequential forecast in history, locking him into a tense standoff with the entire Allied leadership. The wrong conditions could devastate the largest ever seaborne invasion, while any delay risks German intelligence catching on. With his only trusted aide Lieutenant Kay Summersby (Kerry Condon) to confide in, and haunted by a catastrophic D-Day rehearsal, the final decision rests with Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser). With only hours to go, the fate of the war and the lives of millions hang in the balance. 

Others to round out the cast are Chris Messina as Captain Irving Krick, Damian Lewis as Bernard 'Monty' Montgomery, Tamsin Topolski as Liz Stagg, James' wife, Con O'Neill as Air Marshal Leigh Mallory, Alexander Hanson as General Omar Bradley, Jojo Macari as Andrew Carter, Robert Portal as Admiral Bertram Ramsay, Joshua Hill as Casey and Toby Williams as Bryant. 

This film was brilliantly sequenced well by director Anthony Maras ("Hotel Mumbai" '18) plus shorts. Even though this filmmaker has limited feature film experience, his shorts has certainly served him well. It was concise, paced and staged well. Undoubtedly this director will assuredly receive more work. It was cleverly written by David Haig ("My Boy Jack" (TV movie) '07) and Anthony Maras ("Hotel Mumbai" '18) plus shorts, based on a play by David Haig. First of all, I had no idea that the attack on the Germans on D-Day hung on weather and if the weather was willing to work with the US or not, and secondly, this certainly made a unique and original premise on the entire war genre. The meteorologists were in a differing position of what kind of weather was to occur on June 6, 1944. It's no wonder that Haig was brought in to assist with the creation of the script since the film was based on his play and the tenseness and gut-wrenching emotions kept the audience on the edge of their seats. Really, other than a couple of small places of choppiness in script, this story was spot on. 

If you like the genre of war, you will love this, especially since the premise of this film is like nothing you've seen. The directing, acting, especially by Fraser and cinematography by Jamie Ramsay bsc/sacg was exquisite. It's like going back in time to a time that was fraught with uncertainty, but in other ways, was a much simpler time compared to our world today.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                       Rated:PG-13                                   100mins.