Sure to frustrate the historical purist crowd, the latest iteration of “Nuremberg” trades out accuracy for thrilling court room drama, fueling its reimagining of historic events with big time dad movie vibes. This is a rare moment where TNT energy is a compliment, the kind of film that has so many rousing (albeit predictable and by the numbers of the genre) moments that when it inevitably plays on cable endlessly, you’ll most likely kick your feet up and watch it through to the end.
“Nuremberg” gives the sham trial the “A Few Good Men” treatment, using genre tropes as a way to keep men in suits talking in and out of the courtroom relentlessly entertaining and – though heavily manufactured – delivers crowd pleasing moments as the world vs. Nazis take shape. It’s the kind of the film we used to get all the time and now don’t get enough, and while I won’t fault skeptics and “well, actually” criticisms, the film won me over with its star studded cast, thrilling pacing and bold conclusion that serves as a warning of repeated history.
“Nuremberg” is pretty simple in its approach: WWII is over and the last remaining Nazi high command have been captured. With no legal precedent for global war crimes or atrocities, Western allies unite to create the first multi-country trial now known as the Nuremberg trials. The Nazi High Command are obstinate and steadfast in their resolve of righteousness, and they must bring in chief psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) to understand and break the key leader Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) in order to gain a confession of their horrendous acts in court and send all of them to noose. Göring is a crafty narcissist set on escaping conviction, and it becomes a psychological cat and mouse game between him and Kelley to break down the defensive walls and reveal the truth before it’s too late. It also starts Michael Shannon, Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O’Brien, Colin Hanks, and Richard E. Grant.
There’s a made for tv vibe that exists on the surface, and plenty of needless melodrama and love interest subplots that ultimately go nowhere but feel like necessity if you’re embracing the Aaron Sorkin approach to the trials. And while those are often a deterrent for some (myself included), I found myself wholly engrossed in the court proceedings even when it gets a little too cheesy and chintzy for its own good. Perhaps I’m just aging into films like this as I get older, and am more apt to excuse any shortcomings in lieu of its strong performances and snappy back and forth dialogue. What truly sets the film apart isn’t what it does on the surface or how it neatly operates within the confines of its genre, but the urgency of its trojan horse message: the past is doomed to repeat itself if we’re not careful, and we are getting dangerously close to the worst.
Playing fast and loose with history never negates what “Nuremberg” is actually trying to say, making its contents eerily relevant to today. Leo Woodall is given a moment to spell it out in plain letters before the epic conclusion that it happened because people let it happen. Evil exists most prevalently in indifference and ignorance, a point this film boldly makes clear. In the end, our own complacency and excuses and blind eye can allow the same horrors to come back around. It is truly fascinating and ambitious for writer/director James Vanderbilt to take things this far, and once this becomes clear, “Nuremberg” makes a whole lot more sense and transforms from a typical historical drama into a relevant warning of what our future could look like.
Vanderbilt excels in delivering high octane thrillers with fun, exciting, likable characters, with films like “Ready or Not,” “Abigail,” and “Ambulance” to name a few.
But in “Nuremberg,” Vanderbilt reveals himself to be a thoughtful filmmaker and writer beneath the blockbuster projects, blending the best of both worlds by delivering peak entertainment value with something timely and important to say. He also managers to get the best out of some of his performers, namely Rami Malek who I have always found insufferable to watch in any capacity. He has an off-putting quirky energy and delivery I have never been able to get behind, and you can color me shocked when I found that he was actually good here. This is his best performance to date, and the most tolerable he’s been on screen probably ever. He has excellent chemistry with Woodall, and genuinely feels like an equal to Crowe’s larger than life, deeply assured Göring.
No one loves accents as much as Crowe does, and frankly I’m on board for it every single time. Sure, it’s only kind of German sometimes, but he runs amok in the best of ways, and the film is better for it.
When it’s Crowe vs. Malek or Malek and Woodall together, each performer brings out the best in each other, truly elevating the material. The rest of the cast is fine, never boring or out of place but largely just put in scenes to be reliable working military men or alcoholic 1940s lawyers. The way they pour whiskey at every chance the get – even during the trail sometimes – is a funny but nice touch of accuracy for “Nuremberg.” And while they aren’t always given as much to do, they do their jobs well.
It’s funny to see Grant get the Malek “Oppenheimer” treatment; introduced early, seemingly forgotten for a long stretch, then brought back in the end to deliver some of the most riveting moments in the film. It’s production design and costumes are quite excellent, too. Everything in here feels like post WWII and the courtroom set pieces are really well constructed.
There’s a lot of borrowed ideas delivered with grandiose prestige despite being pretty on the nose and pedestrian with its cliches and common courtroom platitudes. Those things are there and make it easy to dismiss the film entirely, But I’d argue that its true ideas, the harrowing warning of the worst of humanity rising again is what one should take away from it all. The history itself has concluded, and while “Nuremberg” highly stylizes events to give you a sense of unknown, its conclusions are predetermined. What isn’t set in stone and what it actually wants to comment on is the current times, the ones that seem to be inching closer and closer to our greatest fears. Douglas Kelley died alone from alcoholism and depression, his experiences at the trials causing him to shout caution and injustice to anyone who would listen which unfortunately was no one. The film doesn’t conclude with the trial; it warns us that our victory lap has lead to ignorance and paved the way for it all to come back around again.
When viewed through this lens, “Nuremberg” takes on a whole new life and cements itself as a must watch film of the year. It’s by no means the best, but it is certainly one we should all pay attention to and take some notes before we reach the point of no return.
We are closer than you think, and “Nuremberg” is a haunting reminder of what happens when we let it happen.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
“Nuremberg” is in theaters October 7th. You can watch the trailer below.
