Brendan Fraser stars as U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower in director Anthony Maras’ “Pressure,” about the 72 hours before the D-Day invasion in World War II.
Alex Bailey/Focus Features/Alex Bailey/Focus Features/Studi
Movies have a way of supersizing Dwight Eisenhower.
In “Countdown to D-Day” (2004), he was played by a 6-foot-4 Tom Selleck. Now in “Pressure,” the 34th president is portrayed by a 6-foot-3 Brendan Fraser. The real Ike, of course, stood at 5-foot-10 — only slightly taller than average for his generation — and looked more like he worked in a bank.
Still, Fraser captures something essential about Eisenhower almost immediately. He has the right shade of blue eyes and a faraway look, like he’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. That, more than the physical resemblance, turns out to matter.
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Brendan Fraser stars as General Dwight D. Eisenhower in “Pressure,” set in the 72 hours before D-Day.
Focus Features/Courtesy of Focus Features/Studi
“Pressure” is an irresistible World War II drama that concocts a fact-based yet largely fictional story about the relationship between Eisenhower and his weather man, the Scottish meteorologist James Stagg (Andrew Scott). In the run-up to the D-Day landings — in an era before computers and satellite photos — Stagg had the task of advising whether the invasion should or should not proceed.
“Pressure”: Drama. Starring Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser and Kerry Condon. Directed by Anthony Maras. (PG-13. 100 minutes.) Special Memorial Day screenings at 2 p.m. Monday, May 25, in select Bay Area theaters. In theaters nationwide Friday, May 29.
Here was a case where the weather itself could determine the battle’s winner. In order to launch a coordinated attack, the British, American and Canadian allies needed the ocean waves to be under a certain height and the skies to be clear enough for the airmen to bomb visible targets. Without those elements, the chance for success would be bleak.
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In this version of the story, Stagg is presented as a rigid, self-serious character, whose expertise and authority are constantly in question. Will Eisenhower listen to him, whose conclusions are based on the best silence available? Or will the president take the advice of his longtime favorite, Irving Crick, whose predictions were entirely based on historical weather patterns?
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James Stagg (Andrew Scott, left) and Irving P. Krick (Chris Messina) are rival meteorologists with differing methods i the World War II thriller “Pressure.”
Alex Bailey/Focus Features/Alex Bailey/Focus Features/Studi
Crick, played with great relish by Chris Messina as a supremely confident idiot, is absolutely sure that the skies will be clear on June 5, 1944, the day scheduled for the invasion. Stagg offers no such certainty, and as a personality he’s no match for Crick. But he’s fairly sure that, if the Allies attack on June 5, it will be an absolute disaster.
“Pressure” presents Eisenhower and Stagg as brand-new acquaintances, but Eisenhower, in fact, had had Stagg on his staff for several months, in order to test Stagg’s predictive capability.
The movie also departs from history by having Eisenhower go off half-cocked yelling at various people, especially Stagg. Yes, it’s true that Eisenhower could have an explosive temper, but he knew how to keep it under control. Here he’s so angry that he often seems weak, and in a way that would have undermined his authority.
Oh, and while we’re quibbling, Ike didn’t smoke filtered cigarettes. This was 1944. He smoked filterless Camels.
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Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott) confers with as Captain Kay Summersby (Kerry Condon), the personal assistant to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, in director Anthony Maras’ “Pressure.”
Alex Bailey/Focus Features/Alex Bailey/Focus Features/Studi
But enough of that. Most of the liberties taken with the real history in “Pressure” only serve to enhance the drama, in a film where the built-in dramatic takes are already incalculable. This was the largest seaborn invasion in history, and most seaborn invasions against defended territory fail. Eisenhower knew that, if they waited, the element of surprise could be lost.
By making the stresses on Stagg even worse than they were, the movie guarantees that Scott has plenty to play, and there are moments here when he convincingly seems like a man about to break. It’s yet another exceptional performance from an actor who seems unable to make a false move.
Also worth noting is Kerry Condon as Eisenhower’s driver, assistant and probable girlfriend, Kay Sommersby. Sommersby was Irish, and so is Condon. Watching her here, it’s hard to escape the sense that yes, this is what Kay Sommersby must have been like — capable, discreet and a natural judge of character.
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Mick LaSalle is the film critic emeritus of the Chronicle. Email: askmicklasalle@gmail.com