Pressure

Boring? Never. Thrilling and history-making? Indeed. Maras and Haig easily rise to the challenge to make the weather worth watching.

The film is elevated by Scott, whose mellow Edinburgh burr is note-perfect and his performance so breathtakingly understated that you find yourself leaning in to catch every suppressed micro-reaction and flicker of emotional candlelight.

Featuring an award-worthy performance by Andrew Scott in the lead role and solid supporting turns by Brendan Fraser, Kerry Condon and Chris Messina, Pressure lives up to its title with its expert ratcheting up of sustained tension.

Pressure is an interesting, entertaining thriller that harkens back to a kind of studio picture that is now only made by mid-majors like Focus Features.

Fraser’s Eisenhower is physically imposing — much more than the real man — and stubborn too, though in a louder way. But he’s frankly less interesting than Scott’s multifaceted Stagg, a character and performance that elevates an otherwise efficient, well-made war movie into something more intriguing.

Andrew Scott and Brendan Fraser do terrific work in the lead roles, and they're magnetic enough to make a movie about debates over weather predictions riveting – even if the script and direction can't quite match their tone. Pressure works best as a two-hander that occasionally surpasses the material, but it's not necessarily a must-see for anyone who isn't already interested in WW2 history.

Despite a few sparky face-offs between the actors, Pressure feels destined for a less notable fate: to cause plenty of armchair naps once it hits streaming.

Experts can provide an invaluable edge. Good movie about the meteorological work leading into D-Day. The film demonstrated how expert opinions can make a colossal, positive difference to outcomes. There are lessons in research - range of data, frequency of data, etc. Also, there are lessons in leadership including patience, judgement, timing, consultation and decision-making. Finally, it is a very well acted movie.

Solid historical drama. Dialogue driven, yet the weight of the situation is felt. The weather has never been more interesting. Good, not great.

This film is based on true events that shaped the Allied Forces invasion on D-Day. Just 72 hours before that event, General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) called in a noted British meteorologist (Andrew Scott) the determine the best day for the invasion. If he’s wrong, they’ll potentially lose World War II to the ****. Now that’s pressure! Scott turns in a deeply nuanced performance, as he grapples with the facts and conflicting opinions, while Fraser comes across gruff and demanding. The writing and direction play out in the traditional mode with solid dialogue, short scenes and predictable interactions. While there’s never much tension, the film is an interesting drama about a little known factor that influenced the future of the world.

For a roughly 100-minute movie, it struggles to fill the runtime. The first 10-minutes are mostly silent filler, the ending is mostly silent filler, and the moments in-between don't do a whole lot to maintain interest. The cast tries, I'll give them there, but there is so little depth to the plot that it is hard to stay invested.

Complete crap for a "modern audience." A total disgrace to **** (Eisenhower), as portrayed by Brendan Fraser, is the ultimate miscast of the decade. Countless books have been written about Eisenhower, universally describing him as an absolutely steely, charismatic leader with extraordinary endurance. But in the best traditions of the corporate scum catering to the "modern audience," this film is entirely busy destroying those historical images. Here, Ike is reduced to an emotionally unstable jerk, tormented by fear. Modern Hollywood is simply physically incapable of portraying a strong, competent male figure anymore. A leader must necessarily be written as an emotionally vulnerable snot on the verge of hysteria, an inferiority complex, and a panic attack. And yes, he literally CRIES. It's an absolute joke.