Released to seemingly fanfare or attention, Nuremberg is the latest effort from James Vanderbilt (yes, that Vanderbilt family) that chronicles the events leading up to the titular trial after the Second World War, which saw the surviving members of the Nazi High Command face a tribunal made up of various Allied nations. It’s a sobering film, and a flawed one, but it also just so …
Released to seemingly fanfare or attention, Nuremberg is the latest effort from James Vanderbilt (yes, that Vanderbilt family) that chronicles the events leading up to the titular trial after the Second World War, which saw the surviving members of the Nazi High Command face a tribunal made up of various Allied nations. It’s a sobering film, and a flawed one, but it also just so happens to feature the best performance Russell Crowe has delivered in over a decade.
Rami Malek stars as Douglas Kelley, a U.S. Army psychiatrist who has been tasked with analyzing and evaluating the mental health of the surviving Nazi leadership, including Hermann Göring (Crowe), the de facto leader and face of the party since Hitler’s death. At the same time, the Allied nations are wondering how, and if, they should go ahead with the trial and what the consequences would be if such a public and important trial were to go wrong. After initially hesitating on taking the job, US Supreme Justice Robert Jackson (Michael Shannon) agrees to be the American prosecutor on the tribunal.
Right off the bat, let’s get the obvious out of the way. How is Russell Crowe? The Gladiator director hasn’t exactly been known for his dramatic flair as of late, with turns in movies like Kraven the Hunter, The Mummy (2017), and Thor: Love and Thunder, to name a few. While he keeps the foreign accent found in a lot of his more recent films, Crowe finally showed up to work, delivering a great turn as Göring, balancing a cold and terrifying underbelly, wrapped up in a man who cares deeply for his family, but perhaps not as much as his own pride and reputation. He’s cunning, ruthless and a complete egomaniac, making him a fascinating patient for Kelley to observe, perhaps to the point of obsession. Kelley sees Göring and the other captured prisoners as his meal ticket to fame; if he’s able to diagnose “evil”, he would have a bestselling book on his hands. Which is interesting, in that Kelley’s own narcissism is what drives him as he profiles extreme narcissists at the same time. Rami Malek does chew the scenery, maybe a little too much, but I didn’t mind that when bearing in mind the kind of person he’s playing. And Michael Shannon was, as always, wonderfully Michael Shannon, delivering his usual stoic and reserved performance we all love so much.
At two hours and twenty-odd minutes, Nuremberg does struggle with some pacing issues, which seems to be the norm these days with longer films. The film did struggle with this around the middle point of the film, as the plot felt like it was padding the development of the relationship between Göring and Kelley a bit too much, when it could’ve turned its attention to the titular trial earlier on. Despite its title, Nuremberg isn’t a legal film really; it’s more of a psychological historical drama, but it could’ve benefited from exploring the trial a bit more. It does end up feeling like a bit of an extended footnote in the film, encompassing the third act, when it could’ve taken up more of the screen time. Considering the trial lasted almost a year, the film’s depiction of events made it seem like it lasted a few weeks at best. The film also spends a lot of its subplot time devoted to the time between Kelley and Mrs. Göring, whom the film attempts to have us sympathize with. But it’s hard to do that when the character’s husband is the architect of the “work camps” scattered across Europe, making the screen time dedicated to that and us being sympathetic to the already mercenaryish Kelley difficult. Emma Göring, historically, was also nicknamed the First Lady of the Third Reich, thanks to her being Hitler’s hostess for major events, so it’s a really bizarre move on the film’s part.
This is definitely a movie that feels like a product from a different era. It’s not overly complicated and delivers a film that feels like Oscar bait, with compelling performances, a great score, and ruminations on the lasting legacy of evil. I’d say this is more for fans of the likes of The Immitation Game, those accessible and character-driven films that feel epic, despite their smaller scope. It’s not perfect, but it’s a solid time and worth it for Crowe’s performance alone.
