PRESSURE
(12A) 100mins
★★★★☆
LET’S face it, in this country, we love little more than talking about the weather.
And now a film has been made around the subject, with a fascinating insight into how our obsession with what’s going on in the sky helped win the Second World War.
Pressure re-lives the tense 72 hours before D-Day with Andrew Scott playing top meteorologist Capt James Stagg Credit: Alamy
Brendan Fraser stars as General Eisenhower in the gripping new film Credit: Alamy
t’s 1944, right before the D-Day landings, and we meet top meteorologist Capt James Stagg (Andrew Scott), who is highly intelligent and delivers information in flat, informative tones.
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He has been brought in to work for General Eisen-hower (Brendan Fraser), who tells his fellow bigwigs that Churchill insists Stagg is the best.
Eisenhower wants to send more than 100,000 men across the Channel for D-Day on June 5.
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But having studied the weather patterns in nearby countries, Stagg is convinced that unseen storms are hurtling across the Atlantic, which would mean our men drowning before arriving in Normandy.
Long before satellites, Stagg collates his information using boxes tied to balloons and is deemed a lunatic by fellow meteorologist, American Irving Krick (Chris Messina).
Billions and Homeland actor Damian Lewis plays Field Marshal – Sir Bernard “Monty” Montgomery Credit: Alamy
Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser and Damian Lewis recently attended the film’s European premiere in London Credit: PA
He insists they should push on ahead with the mission on the fifth, as postponing could mean losing the element of surprise.
Krick has been Eisen-hower’s trusted weatherman for years and stresses that he got it right in North Africa.
But Stagg sighs and says: “This is northern Europe. The weather is different here.” He is a man before his time, and watching the introverted Stagg try to explain weather data rather than relying on looking out of the window makes him feel much more modern than his chain-smoking, bullish colleagues.
Adapted from David Haig’s 2014 stage play of the same name, the pressure is felt both in the planning room and the sky.
While being more a conversation drama than a war picture, the build-up to the “will they, won’t they” of D-Day is often fraught with nerves.
The short, but very powerful, war scenes are also a reminder of the horrors and sacrifices our soldiers endured — and how vitally important this decision was.
There’s also clever use of real footage, which really brings it home.
A film that should make us all stop complaining about the weather.
MAYDAY
(12a), 111mins
★★★☆☆
Mayday has plenty of fun stunts to keep audiences amused Credit: PA
THIS buddy action drama has an explosive start that Top Gun’s Tom Cruise would be proud of.
Troy “Assassin” Kelly (Ryan Reynolds) is a fighter pilot in the US Air Force.
Sent on a mission over the Soviet Union, he is forced to eject in an amazing sequence that involves him dodging flying debris while crashing to earth.
Incredibly, he survives and wakes up in the wintry wilderness.But his troubles are far from over, as this is 1987 and the Cold War is raging.
Luckily, Troy is rescued by Nikolai (Kenneth Branagh), a Russian ex-KGB carpenter who serves him bear meat and beetroot juice in his cabin in the woods.
At first, it all feels a little like Stephen King’s Misery, but soon Nikolai reveals himself as a Top Gun superfan, who is also incredible at battling multiple baddies at once.
Branagh is superb as the calm and capable killer, but Reynolds sadly lets the side down with a silly one-note performance, which becomes more than a bit annoying. His clothes are distractingly 2026 – and he never has a hair out of place.
But there are plenty of fun stunts to keep audiences amused.
GAIL DAUGHTRY AND THE CELEBRITY SEX PASS
(15), 93mins
★★★★☆
This film has other big-name cameos and wild moments that make you gasp, cringe and laugh in equal measure Credit: Alamy
WHO is the one celebrity you would be allowed to cheat on your beloved with?
For Gail Daughtry’s fiancé Tom, it’s Jennifer Aniston.
Which makes for a hilarious moment when they meet her at a signing of her new “cook” book, which recommends glasses of water.
After catching her man in coitus with Aniston, small-town hairdresser Gail (Zoey Deutch) travels to LA with her best pal Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) to find – and have sex with – her own celebrity pass, Mad Men’s Jon Hamm.
She decides it is vital to do so before marrying boring Tom (Michael Cassidy).
But as Gail sets off to find the elusive actor, her suitcase is accidentally swapped with that of some clumsy gangsters, who then chase her while she chases Hamm.
Gail and Otto go on to pick up some waifs and strays around La-La Land, including Hamm’s Mad Men colleague, John Slattery.
His performance as a down-on-his-luck actor who pretends not to care about Hamm’s fame is superb. Directed by comedy veteran David Wain, this film has other big-name cameos and wild moments that make you gasp, cringe and laugh in equal measure.
