Review: Nuremberg

Synopsis:

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

What We Thought:

Nuremberg has a fantastic performance from Russell Crowe, but it unfortunately suffers from huge tonal shifts. It is about the Nuremberg trial which saw high ranking Nazi officers on trial for war crimes after World War II, but it has too much comedic relief which keeps it from being the solid courtroom drama it should be.

I understand that you want to humanize these men so that viewers understand how the concentration camps and the treatment of Jews happened, but the film should be much heavier than what it is. The current world (and the world since the 1940s) has always wondered how the rise of the Nazi party could have happened and how people could have followed these horrific orders so showing the personalities and charisma of the men behind it makes sense. Crowe’s performance shows you how charm and intelligence can get a shrink and others around him to play along and do tasks for him. That’s the part of the film that shines to me. Rami Malek’s shrink character finds himself relaying messages to Crowe’s wife and daughter and almost becoming friends with one of the worst Nazis. The viewer sees an educated man falling for the charm of a powerful, charismatic leader.

The issue with the film is the in-between stuff. When the movie focuses on the arrested men, Malek analyzing them and then ultimately the trial it’s a solid drama, but it’s the filler that isn’t necessary. Malek’s character meets a woman on a train and runs into her as well, but it’s too light and casual. Her character eventually serves a plot point, but the casualness of the characters feels out of place. John Slattery seems to be playing the MCU’s Howard Stark in a drama about Nazis and World War II. His performance seems like a caricature or that maybe he’s a combination of multiple real life men. The film shouldn’t be so heavy handed that it beats you over the head with a message, but it also shouldn’t be as light.

Nuremberg had potential to be a top 10 film of 2025, but it takes too many swings outside of what it should have been. If Gary Oldman gave the same performance as Russell Crowe he would sweep awards season, but Crowe’s performance will probably be ignored. Richard E. Grant is good as is Michael Shannon although I expected Shannon’s character to be more of the the focus of the film. Leo Woodall has a great scene as well. With all this praise for performances I wish the actual movie had a more settled tone instead of out of nowhere comedic elements. Slattery’s character comes in and the mood changes. Same for Colin Hanks and his few scenes. Malek is fine although I wonder how a different actor would have performed his psychiatrist character, hopefully with less facial expressions. As a history buff I wanted to love the movie, but only ended up loving Crowe’s performance.