Pressure
Pressure, a new film starring Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser and Kerry Condon, focuses on the 72 hour build up towards D-Day in France. The story takes a different angle focusing on how the weather impacts the decision of when to launch the mission. The weather is significantly more difficult to predict then because the world doesn’t have the technology or resources it does today. Fraser, who plays Dwight Eisenhower, has to base his decision on the information given to him from the meteorologists. Andrew Scott plays James Stagg who is the Chief Meteorologist and the one who ultimately tells the commanders when they should launch.
The film features many tense moments surrounding these crucial decisions. The film does a great job of relaying how important this one mission is to either winning or losing the war. Scott steals the show here. He plays an arrogant, but extremely intelligent character that won’t back down when he believes he’s correct. His character is also faced with personal challenges that make it even more difficult to fulfill his role. The other characters throughout the film are nicely done as well. Condon, Fraser, Chris Messina and Damian Lewis all play large roles and do so well. None of their performances are as good as Scott’s was, but they certainly don’t detract from the film.
Music plays a large role in this film. The tense score adds to the feel of the film. The composer, Volker Bertelmann, is no stranger to war films. He won the Oscar for Best Score for All Quiet on the Western Front in 2022. He was also the composer for films such as Conclave, One Life and Hotel Mumbai. It would not be a surprise to see this film receive a nomination for Best Score. Speaking of nominations, while the timing of this film is a bit early for the Oscars, don’t be shocked to see several nominations for this film.
The one downside to the film was the rating. The film is rated PG-13 and it felt like some of the story was held back because of this. While every great movie doesn’t have to be R, a film on the subject of D-Day is hard to make feel real without being able to show the true brutality and rage associated with it all. It just felt like the rating held back the film a bit. And most of the audience for a film like this is going to be old enough to see an R-rated film. So the rating seemed a bit confusing.
Regardless of the rating the film is still a good watch. Anyone out there who is a fan of World War II will really enjoy this film. The story is something that I don’t think most people know a lot about, so that adds to the allure of the film. And it’s such a vital part of World War II that it’s important to know the story behind it.
Overall 7/10
