Nuremberg is one of those movies that sounds important on paper but ends up feeling way too safe, when you sit down and watch it, like it wants to teach you history, without taking big risks, with how it presents everything to the audience. James Vanderbilt directed this and got himself a stacked cast, with Rami Malek playing psychiatrist Douglas Kelly and Russell Crowe as Hermann Goring, the whole thing is basically Kelly, trying to get inside Gorings head, before the trials start and figure out what makes this Nazi bastard tick. The best part is watching these two, go back and fourth, playing mind games for an hour straight, Crowe completely dissapears into Goring and becomes this massive evil blob, who thinks he can outsmart everybody, even tho he is literally sitting in prison, waiting to get hanged, Malek does his usual thing, looking like someone trying to understand pure evil but then realizes he might be getting played, the entire time. The problem is everything else feels rigid and stiff, like your watching a history class, everyone just talks about the trial constantly, in every scene, and it gets exhausting, because you never get any break from heavy legal talk. Michael Shannon shows up as Justice Robert Jackson, giving speeches about justice, and why Nazis need accountability, but none of these characters feel like real humans, just actors doing jobs, without personality, John Slattery barks orders as the Colonel, running the prison, but its all very one note and boring. The movie runs over two and a half hours, witch is crazy, and honestly drags in a lot of sections, where things should move faster, to many scenes of people sitting in rooms, having conversations that could have been cut, without loosing anything important. What saves it tho, is the ending when Kelly goes on a radio show, and warns everyone that fascists will come back, but next time it wont be with swastikas, it will look completely different and normal, witch hits way harder, watching in 2025, with everything going on right now.- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29567915/
- Platform: PRIME VIDEO
Rottentomatoes Rating
Source Theres this absolutly brutal scene during the trial where they show real concentration camp footage, that Allied soldiers filmed, when they liberated Auschwitz and other death camps, its one of the most disturbing things, you will see in any movie, no question about it. The footage shows piles of dead bodies, stacked like garbage, starving prisoners who look like walking skeletons, being carried on stretchers, mass graves being dug with bulldozers, pushing corpses into holes in the ground, makes you feel sick watching it. The entire courtroom sits in complete silence, trying to process the horrors seeing for the first time, that moment alone makes the movie worth sitting through, even with its problems, because it reminds you this shit actually happened, not long ago. These were real people who suffered and died in those camps, and the movie does not hold back from showing the horrific reality of what Nazis did, even when its uncomfortable as hell, its necessary to see so we never forget. The scene is aparently never before seen footage, that the director got access to witch makes it even more powerful and important, watching Goring sit there emotionless, while everyone else is crying or looking away tells you everything about what kind of person he was. Kelly completely breaks down after watching it and has to leave the courtroom because he cant handle it anymore, thats when he finally realizes the man he spent months befriending is genuinely a monster, no matter how charming he seemed during there conversations.
Source Russell Crowe is without doubt the absolute best thing about this movie and he owns every scene as Hermann Goring, you cant take your eyes off him, whenever he appears on screen. Goring ran the Luftwaffe, witch was the Nazi air force, and was involved in every decision, including the Holocaust, even tho he denys knowing about death camps, during the trial, its all lies but he tells them so convincingly, you almost belive him for a second. Crowe makes Goring this weird mix, of charming one minute, then terrifying the next, he will crack jokes with Kelly, or do magic card tricks, then say some cold blooded shit, about loyalty to Hitler, that makes your skin crawl. The performance walks a thin line, where you almost forget, how evil this person was, because Crowe gives him so much humanity, Goring has a wife and daughter he loves, and writes them letters from his cell, that Kelly delivers, witch creates a strange bond between them. Goring knows exactly what he is doing tho, manipulating Kelly into seeing him, as just another guy who made mistakes, instead of a war criminal responsible for millions of deaths, its calculated to gain sympathy and maybe get information to use at trial. The scenes with Crowe and Malek alone talking are intense because you feel Goring, getting inside Kellys head, convincing him things weren't black and white, maybe Nazis had reasons, even if those reasons are insane. By the time trial starts, Goring is so confident, he thinks he can talk his way out of being convicted and Crowe plays that arrogance perfectly, you believe this guy thinks he is the smartest person in any room, even when all evidence is stacked against him and everyone knows he is guilty as hell, its a really great performance, that deserved way more attention than it got.
Source Rami Malek plays Douglas Kelly and his performance is solid but nothing spectacular compared to what Crowe does in this movie and other Rami's performance for sure. Kelly wants to write a book but he didn't put the idea out there that much and make a name for himself, studying Nazi prisoners, figuring out what makes them different from normal people, he thinks something must be wrong with there brains or some psychological defect, explains why they did terrible things. The more time he spends with Goring, talking for hours, he realizes these guys are not crazy monsters, just regular people who made terrible choices and believed in evil ideology, witch is scarier, because it means anyone could become a Nazi under right circumstances. Malek shows Kellys transformation, from confident doctor to someone completely shaken by what he learned, you see it during the camp footage scene, when he breaks down emotionally and leaves the courtroom. The problem is the script, does not give Malek enough to work with so his character story feels rushed, one scene he defends Goring then next scene after camp footage, he screams at him about hanging but we dont get enough showing internal struggle and this is usually where Rami shines to be honest. Theres a weird subplot, where Kelly befriends Gorings family, visiting there house and playing piano for his daughter, its supposed to show emotional attachment but feels forced and does not add much. By the end Kelly realizes, he screwed up getting to close and gives all his notes, to Michael Shannons prosecutor so Americans can use it against Goring in court, its supposed to be redemption but happens so fast it lacks emotional impact.
The trial does not start until 90 minutes in, then takes up the last hour, its mixed because some parts are good, while others drag forever. Michael Shannon as Justice Robert Jackson leading prosecution and delivers speeches about holding Nazis accountable but feels wasted, because he barely gets screen time, compared to Malek and Crowe. Richard E Grant shows up as British prosecutor and gets one great scene, trapping Goring into admitting he would still follow Hitler, even after learning about Holocaust that moment proves Goring has zero remorse and believes he was right about everything. Courtroom scenes are shot well as it feels like a real courtroom, Im not a fan of this kind of movies to be honest although this one in my opinion is way better than how they deal with Oppenheimer court case, with close ups on faces, showing reactions, but as always to much talking gets boring when you want things moving forward. Everything builds to Goring, getting executed by hanging but instead he kills himself with cyanide, he smuggled into his cell, the movie never explains how he got it, witch feels like a plot hole but thats what actually happened. The ending jumps forward showing Kelly years later, drunk and depressed, having written a book, warning people over radio shows about fascism, trying to tell everyone evil can come from anywhere but gets kicked off because Americans dont want to hear it, specially if you are drunk during the entire conference. Its revealed Kelly eventually killed himself with cyanide like Goring did witch is supposed to be tragic irony, showing obsession with understanding evil but feels like a cheap twist, that does not earn its weight. Overall I give Nuremberg a 8 out of 10 and probably because Im bias here, watching two of my top 5 favorites actor that I saw revolutionize the industry with performances like Gladiator and Elliot from Mr Robot, I would say this movie is worth watching for the cast performance and historical significance, but not something I would rewatch more than twice to be honest, I have to admit this is a very Hollywood like trial movie and would have prefer a bit more of history like watching more of Goring doing goring stuff.
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