PRESSURE (in theatres)

At this point in 2026 meteorologists, aided by advanced technology, are fairly accurate in their forecasts. In the 1940’s it was a different equation especially battling a war in Europe; intense, titillating, action focuses on the 72 hours before the planned D-Day on June 5th, (6th) 1944. Director Anthony Maras (“Hotel Mumbai”) and writer David Haig gift viewers a breathtaking scenario of the pivotal protagonists in this true narrative of ultimate trauma: Brendan Fraser, Dwight D. Eisenhower; Anthony Scott, Group Captain Chief Meteorologist James Stagg; Chris Messina, as American meteorologist Colonel Irving Krick are locked in an unpleasant contest with the mercurial, erratic, whimsical weather; fascinating to a point of disbelief was Colonel Krick’s  (Ike’s favorite) determining his prediction on aged weather patterns discounting, the recent shifts in the wind. Scott gives his interpretation of James Stagg as a man of immense intelligence, a “dour but canny Scot”, and eight inches shorter than the actual Stagg.

Scott as an actor is a staggering genius, guaranteeing my attention first as “Moriarty” in Sherlock Holmes series (2010-2017) followed by his (Academy Award worthy unacknowledged) performance in 2023’s “All of Us Strangers”; “Ripley” (2024) and I was personally blessed to see him in a miraculous one man show, uninterrupted, Chekhov’s Uncle “Vanya” where he blazingly depicts all eight characters. Under fifty, realms he has yet to conquer leaves viewers in breathless anticipation. His depiction of James Stagg is infused with profound integrity and gargantuan grace.

Kerry Condon, as Kay Summersby is substantive, intuitive and adds fortitude and strength to her role as Eisenhower’s personal aide and secretary. Brendan Fraser as Dwight D. Eisenhower gives another whale of a performance.

FOUR STARS!!!!

Peneflix