The World War II drama has been a staple of the movie industry’s diet for more than 80 years—even as Hollywood has shied away from the meat and potatoes the genre offers. And after decades, directors somehow still keep finding new narrative points and canyons to explore. Take Anthony Maras’ latest film, The pressure. the D-Day landings? Would anyone be shocked to learn that it was, in fact, incredibly stressful?
Of course they wouldn’t. Indeed, the title works two ways—there’s air pressure, and then there’s office pressure, and this film has a strong helping of both. If that feels a little on the nose, so be it The pressure it may not be for you. But it is It’s a bit of straight dad-bait I’m always happy to see in the theater; somehow manages to invest real tension in a story that has been told many times on the big screen. Although everyone watching knows that World War II will go the way of the Allies, the film makes it feel like a guarantee.
An adaptation of actor David Haig’s 2014 drama, The pressure tells the story of Air Force meteorologist James Stagg, who was instrumental in planning the final stages of D-Day. As with any biography, he pastes and pastes some details, and picks up a historical statistic or two. But more focus is simple and effective. The film focuses on the final days before the Allied landings in Normandy in 1944, with Stagg trying to predict whether their boats would be washed away by a storm.
Stagg is played by Andrew Scott, a talented actor who can portray villains, swoon-worthy romances, and emotional breakdowns. Here, his apology is clear-cut: have the toughest upper lip imaginable. Quietly driven, data-driven, and not a people person, Stagg shuffles through the busy rooms at Southwick House (the headquarters of the D-Day planners) without a word to his allies. He is worried about his pregnant wife at home. But frustratingly, as he examines his weather maps, an army of military minds is breathing down his neck—chief among them Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower (played by Brendan Fraser).
I confess that my image of Eisenhower, perhaps influenced by his later presidency, is of a more rational and thoughtful man than the one portrayed by Fraser. In The pressureThe commander is a boiling pot of flour, carrying years of experience on his shoulders as he prepares for one last big push to win the war. Fraser keeps things tense rather than outright shouting, yet his Eisenhower is still a big, angry wolf—he’s determined to get the answer he wants and is confused by the mysterious Englishman, who tells him that the day he’s taken for the invasion of Normandy will cause all the Allied ships to be stormed.
Although, entering The pressurenot knowing Stagg very well, I couldn’t believe how invested I had become in the specifics of an event whose conclusion was foretold. The story explores the edge of decision-making, through the lens of how a 24-hour difference ended up being critical to the Allies’ success. Maras, who directed and also co-wrote with Haig, is wise to put a lot of action in Southwick House; The stakes of World War II are already high. Every conversation so fraught feels life-and-death; Stagg tries to convince a group of confused Americans, including a meteorologist named Irving P. Krick (Chris Messina), that the weather in Northern Europe can change a little—no matter how sunny the sky.
As a long-time Londoner, I emphatically responded to Stagg’s warnings, amused by this latest exposure of a Brit who is always discussing the various negatives of the forecast. That character description speaks to a mix of styles at the highest levels of the Allied leadership—among them the brutality of Eisenhower, the severity of Krick, and the wise influence and management of Eisenhower’s secretary, Kay Summersby (an excellent Kerry Condon). The pressurehowever, first of all it is a celebration of a certain kind of British coolness: a strong emphasis on structure even when one is faced with complete chaos and the fear of war. Like a chamber piece set within a great war opera, it’s a comforting watch. And as a new meat-and-potatoes dish offered by a movie genre that will hopefully never expire, it’s satisfying, too.
