The first image of James Vanderbilt’s Nuremberg (2025), a handsomely made historical procedural about the prosecutions of the remaining officials of the Third Reich, is a camera pan to a metal plate bearing a Swastika between the legs of an American soldier as he pees on the emblem. It’s playful and lends to some relief, as in the background, displaced European citizens walk hopelessly toward some salvation. The Second World War is over, and Hitler has killed himself. This precedes the arrival of a vehicle, as a Nazi official steps out and its occupant, Herman Göring (Russell Crowe), and his family, surrender, not before asking the Allied soldiers if they can carry his luggage.
This scene perfectly demonstrates the type of middling adult drama Nuremberg presents and executes: a contrast of humorous, grounded human moments against a backdrop of historical sadness and tragedy. It’s a far cry from Vanderbilt’s writing breakthrough with Zodiac (2007), another historical procedural that balanced real-life horrifying events with wry, distinct character dynamics. The difference is that Vanderbilt is not the same caliber of a director as David Fincher, and watching Nuremberg, you can’t help but feel the rote narrative hitting familiar, measured character beats, offering nothing unique or revelatory for one of the bleakest, darkest chapters in human history.
WWII and Holocaust dramas are a dime a dozen, most of the time feeling like cheat codes to poke and prod an audience into a guttural level of emotional angst and discomfort. Yet, Nuremberg posits itself more as a behind-the-scenes look at how a group of nations and lawyers made a conscious effort to publicize and coordinate an international trial to demonstrate the horrors and accountability for the Nazi regime. With the capture of Göring, Chief Justice Robert Jackson (Michael Shannon) wants to establish a global military tribunal to charge the remainder of the Nazi command with crime charges so large that it will discourage future instances of such violence from happening. Cue in psychiatrist Douglas Kelly (Rami Malek), tasked with interviewing Göring and other Nazi prisoners to evaluate their mental fitness to stand trial and provide insight for Jackson and other lawyers in having a swift prosecution in court.
The bulk of the film revolves around the cat-and-mouse game Kelly and Göring play, as Kelly must gain Göring’s trust and learn how much Göring knew about the implementation of concentration camps. Meanwhile, Jackson and his colleagues work around the clock to rebuild a destroyed courthouse and build a first-of-its-kind case involving numerous countries, aiming to condemn the atrocities of the past to move forward.
At a brisk pace, this nearly two-and-a-half-hour drama moves steadily, as Vanderbilt directs with smooth confidence that never strays too far from a rigid script of two dual intelligent personalities clashing while trying to crack one another. The meatier scenes between Crowe and Malek are phenomenal, as both try to outwit and outsmart each other as to whose legacy will prevail once the ashes of this global conflict settle.
The script paints Kelly as an opportunist, at one point admitting to his German translator and aide, Howie Triest (Leo Woodall), that the material he can glean from Göring will make for a great tell-all book. The film poorly attempts to humanize Kelly through a subplot involving Göring’s wife and daughter to gain Göring’s trust. These scenes feel so out of place, as Kelly lacks any interiority and the film feels the need to make him dimensional with corny, trite scenes of comforting Göring and impressing the daughter with his magic tricks.
The third act feels more satisfying, as the trial ensues, we see how Göring will use this platform to evade any responsibility. Jackson believes this trial serves to televise to the world the horrors of what happened and make a spectacle that will deliver a final blow in the war against Nazism. Vanderbilt works best within the third act courtroom scenes, as he manages to emphasize the significant weight of the proceeding narrative has been building toward. Jackson’s climactic cross-examination of Göring packs a tremendous punch, thanks to Dariusz Wolski’s reliably striking cinematography. Vanderbilt gets a lot of mileage from Wolski’s framing and composition, who does a handsome job at making the film feel transportive.
A section of the trial feels the most bold in Vanderbilt’s direction, as documentary footage showcases the conditions and aftermath of various concentration camps, and there is a serene, eerie quietness that permeates this scene. The trial is rooted in being less thrilling and more mechanical and straightforward, but the emotional impact of these images punctuates the importance of holding these figures accountable. The main tension stems from how Jackson can land the prosecutorial blow against Göring and his legacy, as he relies on Kelly’s notes and insight into minds that the majority of people can’t comprehend.
Malek, unfortunately, feels ill-cast. His wide-eyed curiosity and almost gleeful smirk distract from just how much he’s punching above his acting class. He carries himself with a swagger and charisma that feels cheap and forced, almost trying too hard to garner the trust of the audience, when the clearly formidable presence of Crowe outshines Malek’s inept talents quite easily. It’s a shame, as Kelly could’ve been a great character thrust into a situation that requires his keen instinct to penetrate the psychological surface of a pathological criminal like Göring. Whether it’s a scene he shares with Crowe, Shannon, Woodall, or even Göring’s inconsequential family, Malek comes off as ill-defined and empty. No discernible characteristics to lean on, other than his ability for card tricks and coming off with a sense of ill-matched superiority.
Crowe is one of the most reliable actors any director can ask for in a film. It doesn’t matter what the role requires or how thin the writing is, Crowe fully immerses himself, adding dimensions and layers with subtlety and nuance. Göring prides himself on his intellect and knowledge, yet exhibits tremendous warmth and openness, almost to lull Kelly into a falsehood of trust. And when Göring becomes more ruthless in his deception, as he counters Shannon’s legal authority in court, Crowe brings a new element of survivalist that would be present only in a man accused of crimes against humanity.
The most surprising and touching performance belongs to Woodall’s Howie. There’s a mild, unassuming nature to Howie, who goes along with Kelly’s sessions, interpreting German for him and being up close to the very enemy he’s fought for years in the war. Yet the film carves out the best scene as Howie opens to Kelly the importance of this trial and how his deep connections to the conflict go far beyond the call of duty to fight fascism. The calm direction and Woodall’s tender performance instill a level of emotionality that feels missing from Malek’s Kelly.
One of the central questions Kelly poses to Jackson is why have this spectacle of a trial when shooting these criminals is far easier (or letting them kill themselves in jail, as several attempt to do). Jackson responds that it’s far easier to kill them and make them martyrs without any historical accountability or record as to who they are, and the only way to prevent another conflict is to glue the world to the horrors of what’s happened. It’s a noble goal, and perhaps would land better as being poignant and honest decades later. Yet, as antisemitism is sadly rising in the world, particularly in America, Nuremberg feels ill-equipped to meet the moment of accountability when political violence is becoming prominent. The sense of holding those accountable in the film seems hollow and faint when far-right factions have embraced bigotry and anger as part of their ideology.
The final scene of Kelly ends with him drunkenly warning American radio hosts that fascism is apparent in everyone, including Americans, before being booted out and pathetically stumbling his way out. By the end, the film plays out typically as most historical films do, as the ending feels rushed and in a hurry to tie up loose ends, leaving Kelly aimless in a final scene that does very little to offer a conclusive note. On-screen titles try to tie a bow, yet lack the thematic finality of a film that hopes to have a shelf life beyond the seasonal release of Oscar-bait dramas.
Nuremberg can’t be any more incisive and biting; other than that, Nazism is bad, and these trials are a good act of justice. James Vanderbilt probably made the film not to meet the moment, but to remind people that history is doomed to repeat itself. A lovely gesture that rings hollow when a genocide is happening just across the ocean.
Review Courtesy of Amritpal Rai
Feature Image Credit to Sony Pictures Classics Via The Hollywood Reporter/Kata Vermes