12/09/26

Cineworld, Edinburgh

A brief summary of Pressure would be enough to put a lot of potential viewers off. ‘It’s a nail-biting drama about… er, weather forecasting.’ But don’t be misled. Anthony Maras’s powerful film, based on a stage play by David Haig, manages to keep me utterly enthralled from the opening scenes to the final shot.

It’s 1944 and the allied forces, under the command of Ike, AKA General Dwight D Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) are preparing for the D Day invasion. But Ike is still smarting from the recent disaster of Excercise Tiger, a sort of dress rehearsal, designed to introduce raw recruits to the reality of an amphibious landing  – which, thanks to a series of delays and misunderstandings, resulted in the deaths of hundreds of young troops.

Determined to ensure that everything goes to plan this time, Ike recruits the army’s top meteorologist, Group Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott), and charges him with the task of delivering an accurate forecast for June 5th. So er… no pressure there (ahem) even though Stagg is adamant at his first meeting with Ike that he can deliver no more than an educated guess.

Stagg is ordered to work alongside his American equivalent, Irving Krick (Chris Messina), a smooth-talking go-getter, who likes to boast about his connections in Hollywood. It’s clear from the off that the two men’s methods vary wildly. Krick is happy to base his forecast on earlier weather charts, claiming that such events do not vary all that much over the years. 

But Stagg is more used to the unpredictability of European weather. He has his own way of doing things and isn’t about to make any changes…

While the film’s claustrophobic stage-bound origins are still evident here, Maras makes valiant efforts to open out the story to suit the cinematic form, showing how Stagg’s predictions directly affect the troops as they wait anxiously for the order to head into action. Nonetheless, Pressure mostly concentrates on its central performances and, it must be said, these are pretty impressive. 

Scott is quietly brilliant as a strict disciplinarian who never tries to make himself likeable to his fellow workers and isn’t ready to tolerate anyone who disagrees with him. He’s also carrying a personal anxiety of his own and consequently Scott allows us to glimpse the simmering cauldron of doubt Stagg harbours within. Fraser is in similar territory: Ike is struggling to implement a near impossible task while carrying the lonely burden of what happened with Exercise Tiger – a costly mistake that was his idea in the first place.

The two male leads are brilliantly supported by Kerry Condon as Kay Summersby, who has to deal with the titanic clash of male egos and ensure that everything stays on course. Condon excels in the role and provides an important female antidote to all that dick-waving. Damian Lewis has a cameo role as General Montgomery, convinced that his men cannot be cowed or ruled by something as ephemeral as weather conditions – unsurprisingly, he emerges from this looking like a pompous ass.

When, after a series of delays, the invasion finally goes ahead, the film manages the seemingly impossible. The Normandy invasion is a matter of historical record and its end is never in doubt, yet Maras still somehow contrives to keep me on the edge of my seat, chewing my nails and hoping that nothing goes wrong.

Go figure.

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney