Movie Review: ‘Nuremberg’

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Initial Thoughts

Russell Crowe as Hermann Göring in ‘Nuremberg’. Photo: Scott Garfield. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

The Nuremberg trials were a major turning point in world history: they not only exposed the atrocities of the Nazi regime to the world on a large scale, but they laid down the foundations for what would become international law and the concept of crimes against humanity itself.

The saga of how the trials came together – a mammoth effort that involved the cooperation of the four main Allied nations – and their complex ethical and moral implications (and failings) is certainly ripe material for filming, as 1961’s ‘Judgment at Nuremberg’ so ably proved. James Vanderbilt’s ‘Nuremberg’ has moments where it approaches greatness – and one spectacularly unsettling performance at its core from Russell Crowe – but the director-writer often focuses on the wrong subject or goes off on tangents that lessen the film’s power.

Story and Direction

(L to R) Leo Woodall and James Vanderbilt on the set of ‘Nuremberg’. Photo: Scott Garfield. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

As World War II ends, one of the chief architects of the Third Reich and its campaign of genocide against the Jews, Hermann Göring (Crowe), turns himself in to the Allied forces. A number of other Nazi officials are captured as well. While Supreme Court Associate Justice Robert H. Jackson (Shannon) prepares the groundwork for what will be an unprecedented international tribunal, psychiatrist Douglas Kelley is tasked with analyzing the mental state of the men who will stand trial – particularly the slippery, effortlessly charming Göring.

At two and a half hours in length, ‘Nuremberg’ feels like its reaching for epic status. But it also feels like a truncated version of what might have been a longer limited series, with Vanderbilt cramming so many aspects of the story into his film that it’s hard for any of them to stand out. That makes his decision to focus on Kelley’s relationship with Göring even more puzzling (even though the film is based in part on a biography of Kelley).

Despite Crowe’s excellent work as portraying Göring as a suave, sophisticated, and even witty sparring partner, the exchanges between him and Kelley never come to life, playing instead like an enervated version of Clarice-vs-Lecter from ‘The Silence of the Lambs.’ Göring plays with Kelley, gaining his friendship, but all their repartee in the end feels pointless. Kelley (whose own life came to a grim end in 1958, after his report on the Nazis he studied at Nuremberg was largely dismissed) also strikes up a relationship of sorts (platonic) with Göring’s wife, another unnecessary (and, frankly, rather queasy) side road that the film takes while the most compelling part of the narrative – Jackson’s buildup to the trial and the moment he almost lost it – is frequently left in the background.

Russell Crowe as Hermann Göring in ‘Nuremberg’. Photo: Scott Garfield. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Despite a number of absorbing moments and heroic work by Crowe, Shannon, John Slattery, and Leo Woodall (Malek’s Kelley, unfortunately, is simply a cipher), Vanderbilt tries to do too much. Scenes in which the other Nazi officers are interrogated or treated by Kelley and the German Jewish soldier Howie Triest (Woodall) barely make an impact because of the film’s ‘this-happened-and-then-happened’ structure. The most powerful moment, of course, is when film taken by Allied soldiers from inside the liberated Nazi concentration camps is unspooled during the trial – nothing can ever lessen the impact of that (and people should be reminded of it now more than ever).

This is a beautifully mounted production – from the sets to the costumes to the insignia on both Nazi and Allied uniforms, this is finely detailed technical filmmaking that immediately brings one back to this period of history. But Vanderbilt – whose only other directorial effort was 2015’s ‘Truth’ – seems overwhelmed by the material, and handles it in a pedestrian way that dilutes its full impact.

Cast and Performances

Michael Shannon as Robert H. Jackson in ‘Nuremberg’. Photo: Scott Garfield. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Russell Crowe’s career trajectory has been so strange in recent years, as he’s chomped the scenery and flaunted extreme accents in films ranging from ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ to ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ to ‘Kraven the Hunter,’ that watching his restrained, charismatic, and utterly chilling performance as Hermann Göring makes you remember just what a powerful actor he can be. His work here is the single best aspect of the movie and riveting throughout.

Just as strong is national treasure Michael Shannon, who brings gravity, eloquence, and humanity to the deeply flawed Robert H. Jackson, and some of the best supporting work comes from dependable scene-stealers Richard E. Grant and John Slattery. As for Rami Malek – who seems to have a hard time finding the right roles lately – he’s good to some extent, but uneven in certain moments and not given enough to make the part of Kelley a truly distinctive character.

Final Thoughts

(L to R) Richard E. Grant as Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, Michael Shannon as Robert H. Jackson, Rami Malek as Lt. Col. Douglas Kelley in ‘Nuremberg’. Photo: Scott Garfield. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

‘Nuremberg’ has the patina of a certain kind of film that would dominate both awards season and critical discussion had it come out perhaps 10 or 15 years earlier. It’s handsomely mounted and James Vanderbilt seems to want to give it the sweep of a true historical epic. Its haunting coda also reminds us that the horrors perpetrated by the Nazi regime remain relevant – perhaps increasingly so – today. But so much time is spent on peripheral matters that the story only comes into focus part of the time. But when it does, it’s powerful stuff.

‘Nuremberg’ receives a score of 65 out of 100.

Russell Crowe as Hermann Göring in ‘Nuremberg’. Photo: Scott Garfield. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

What is the plot of ‘Nuremberg’?

The Allies, led by chief prosecutor Robert H. Jackson (Michael Shannon), have the task of ensuring the Nazi regime answers for the horrors of the Holocaust — while a U.S. Army psychiatrist (Rami Malek) is locked in a dramatic psychological duel with former Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe).

Who is in the cast of ‘Nuremberg’?

• Rami Malek as Lt. Col. Douglas Kelley
• Russell Crowe as Hermann Göring
• Michael Shannon as Robert H. Jackson
• Richard E. Grant as David Maxwell Fyfe
• Leo Woodall as Sgt. Howie Triest
• John Slattery as Col. Burton C. Andrus
• Colin Hanks as Dr. Gustave Gilbert
• Wrenn Schmidt as Elsie Douglas
• Lydia Peckham as Lila McQuaide
• Mark O’Brien as John Amen
• Lotte Verbeek as Emmy Göring

‘Nuremberg’ opens in theaters on November 7th.

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