Pressure

I always enjoy a well-made movie about a topic I find interesting featuring an actor I like and that is exactly what I got with Pressure last night.  It is June 1944 and General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) is preparing for the D-Day invasion of Normandy which could change the tide of World War II.  Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery (Damian Lewis) is pushing for a launch on June 5 so the Allies do not lose the element of surprise but Eisenhower wants a report from his meteorological team, which consists of Colonel Irving P. Krick (Chris Messina), an American who has successfully advised him during several battles in North Africa, and Group Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott), a Scottish meteorologist recommended by Churchill, because the operation depends upon a favorable weather forecast.  Stagg is distracted because is wife Liz (Tamsin Topolski) is heavily pregnant and immediately runs afoul of Eisenhower, his personal assistant Kay Summersby (Kerry Condon), as well as the entire team with his prickly behavior.  Frick relies on historical weather patterns and predicts clear skies for June 5, which is what Eisenhower wants to hear, but Stagg uses barometric pressure data from weather stations all around Normandy in real-time and predicts a severe storm system.  Eisenhower reluctantly calls off the invasion on Stagg's recommendation, which is ultimately proven correct, but will he believe Stagg when he forecasts a window of calm on June 6?  Even though I knew the date of the invasion as well as its outcome, I was on the edge of my seat when Eisenhower is making the decision to go or not go and when the officers are waiting for the results of the battle because the editing, which features fast cuts between images of the officers at Allied HQ, the atmospheric conditions, and the soldiers preparing to deploy and then storming the beaches, builds so much tension.  I have always been fascinated by World War II so I really enjoyed seeing the events leading to D-Day from a new perspective (I knew about Allied efforts to deceive Germany about the location of the invasion but I never considered the importance of the weather) and, as nerdy as it sounds, I found the process of collecting weather data to be strangely compelling.  Finally, I really like Scott as an actor and his understated performance as Stagg is one of his best, especially when juxtaposed with Fraser's brashness as Eisenhower and Messina's arrogance as Frick (one of the biggest highlights is seeing Frick and Stagg go toe-to-toe).  I thoroughly enjoyed this and highly recommend it.