Pressure

 

Anthony Maras's second feature film is the solidly assured Pressure, written by Maras and writer/actor David Haig, based on Haig's stage play of the same name.

Pressure is set in 1944 at Allied command headquarters in England, where Gen. Dwight Eisenhower (a smart and layered Brendan Fraser) is planning an enormous land, air and sea invasion of Normandy beach in France three days later. At the recommendation of Winston Churchill, Eisenhower has summoned British meteorologist Group Captain Dr. James Stagg (another wonderful job by Andrew Scott) to join his staff and coordinate the weather forecasts for June 5.

A taciturn, humorless figure, Stagg immediately rubs Eisenhower's aide Lieutenant Kay Summersby (Kerry Condon) the wrong way and locks horn with Eisenhower's trusted meterologist, Colonel Irving Crick (Chris Messina), who looks to historical records to support command's expressed goals, assuming weather consistency year after year.

In contrast, Stagg's approach is to gather as much contemporary data as possible and then propose "go" or "no go" depending on those findings.

Crick is a likeable and fun-loving cuss; Stagg is Crick's antithesis and is as abrasive as a hair shirt. It is this bold dichotomy that is the picture's core conflict and lends meaning to the double entendre in the film's one-word title.

Maras and Haig have rendered a fresh story with crucial clarity about all that was at stake in WWII. No small feat considering how much audiences know about D-Day. Maras and Haig have re-scaled to a clash between science and intuition, that, nonetheless, would have lasting, global ramifications

The Death of Robin Hood

 

Writer/director Michael Sarnoski's ruminative The Death of Robin Hood recasts the medieval legend as a meditation on the value of life and living, especially lives that were not lived well.

In this retelling, the aged Robin Hood (a by-turns brutish and stoic Hugh Jackman) is a grisly outlaw, on the run from those who want to avenge loved ones he's slaughtered over the years. He has not been taking from the rich and giving to the poor as the stories say. He's simply been taking from whoever crosses his path.

After gutting a victim's vengeful daughter (Jade Croot), Robin finds himself reunited with Little John now called Edward (Bill Skarsgård) after a skirmish leaves the bowman bandit seriously injured. Edward and his daughter Margaret (Faith Delaney) take Robin to the island priory where sister Brigid (Jodie Cromer) tends to the sick.

It is in the priory's infirmary that Robin not only heals physically but begins to assess the damage he has caused. He is befriended by a philosopher/leper (Murray Bartlett) who is hiding more than scarred flesh under his bandages and wrappings. Their exchanges add layers of thoughtful meaning to the story.

Soon Young Margaret returns to the priory, telling of her father's murder by avengers. This presents Robin with a dilemma -- does he answer his companion's death or continue down the new path he's found?

It is an interesting premise because Robin is presented as a man devoid of heroism or honor. He is feral, but not entirely without a conscience or humanity.

Sarnoski's Death of Robin Hood will reward moviegoers who enjoy films steeped in time and place (the art direction, costuming and makeup are splendid) and that capably blend contrasting visual and narrative tones.

Yes, the violence is graphic, but I think it's the quieter moments that will resonate best with patient audience members.