Ike: Countdown to D-Day

Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004) is a good but stuffy TV movie. Detailing the buildup to the Allied invasion of France in 1944, it's most interesting for Tom Selleck's excellent portrayal of Dwight Eisenhower.

In early 1944, American General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Tom Selleck) is appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied forces. Eisenhower's task is an extraordinary one: he has to coordinate the largest amphibious assault in history, while preventing security leaks, coordinating allies and smooth over subordinate egos. The decisive factor, however, is the weather, which delays the invasion twice and may even put it off. Eisenhower takes all responsibility upon himself - any failure will be his failure.

History buffs will enjoy Ike more than lay viewers. The movie details Eisenhower's struggles with prickly allies like Bernard Montgomery (Bruce Phillips), who feels more qualified than Eisenhower, and Charles de Gaulle (George Shevstov), who refuses to subordinate Free France to SHAEF. Eisenhower's own subordinates rankle, especially the loudmouthed George Patton (Gerald McRaney). When Eisenhower's old roommate General Miller (Paul Gittins) drunkenly blabs invasion plans to a bar, Ike's inclined to be lenient - until Miller appeals to their friendship. The mission must come first.

Dramatically stiff thanks to Robert Harmon's workmanlike direction, Ike is more interesting than good. Lionel Chetwynd's script is a series of planning sessions and confrontations that doesn't really open up. There's little room to breathe and only a few flashes of humor. But the film certainly allows viewers to appreciate how difficult Operation Overlord was to pull off.

Tom Selleck looks and sounds nothing like Ike but gives a strong performance. The film views Eisenhower primarily as a military leader (his affair with Kay Summersby is omitted) but he does have some personal moments dressing down Patton and Smith. Selleck is perfectly low-key and intense, subordinating personal feelings and doubts to the greater mission. For an actor generally relegated to B-grade action movies and TV Westerns, it's an impressive turn.

American actors James Remar (The Long Riders), Gerald McRaney and Timothy Bottoms are competent but unremarkable. Ian Mune is a wonderfully puckish Winston Churchill, while Bruce Phillips' (Lord of the Rings) complex portrayal of Montgomery helps erase bad memories of Michael Bates' clowning in Patton. George Shevstov makes a marvelously arrogant de Gaulle.

As a movie Ike: Countdown to D-Day is only fair. But military buffs will certainly appreciate its depiction of the difficulties of high command, while Tom Selleck fans will relish the star playing an atypical role.