Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Michael Shannon and more explore power and the roots of evil in riveting Nazi drama ‘Nuremberg.’
‘Nuremberg’ movie trailer: Rami Malek takes on Nazis
An Army psychiatrist (Rami Malek) is brought in to look after the mental health of Nazi prisoners before their trial for war crimes in “Nuremberg.”
- Rami Malek and Russell Crowe match wits in the excellent war drama “Nuremberg.”
- The movie (in theaters Friday, Nov. 7) revolves around the trial of the Nazi high command.
- The Oscar-bait film also stars Michael Shannon, Richard E. Grant and standout Leo Woodall.
There have been so many World War II movies, it’s nice to see a film that focuses on the battles that happen after the actual war is over – and especially those that seem to rage on decades later.
The historical drama “Nuremberg” (★★★½ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters Nov. 7) has more in common with “A Few Good Men” than “Schindler’s List” as it deals with the Nazi high command who perpetrated the Holocaust seeing their day in court. It’s also the definition of an Oscar-loving cinephile’s dream movie. An all-star period effort that leans entertaining, though gets deadly serious exactly when it needs to, the film hinges on the matching of wits between Rami Malek as an Army psychiatrist and Russell Crowe as one of the most evil men in the world.
The movie begins in 1945 on the last day of fighting in Europe, when Adolf Hitler’s second-in-command, Hermann Göring (Crowe), surrenders to Allied troops in Austria. As he and other ranking German officers are rounded up, some feel they should be shot immediately for their war crimes, but Robert Jackson (Michael Shannon), an associate justice for the U.S. Supreme Court, argues for a tribunal to prosecute them for their acts against humanity.
The Nazis have to be fit for trial first, though. After the suicides of Hitler, Heinrich Himmler and others, Lt. Col. Douglas Kelley (Malek) is sent to Luxembourg to look after the mental health of the surviving German prisoners, including Göring, and keep them alive until they get to the courtroom.
Kelley is psyched by the prospect, not only getting to investigate the human origins of evil but also write a book about it. He befriends Goring to get closer to him and to make this Nazi narcissist trust him, even though Göring is playing Kelley and other soldiers.
Based on Jack El-Hai’s history book “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist,” the movie follows Kelley’s and Jackson’s parallel story lines until they combine at the trial in Nuremberg, the site of Hitler’s Nazi propaganda rallies.
Written and directed by James Vanderbilt (“Zodiac”), “Nuremberg” is lighter than you might expect, given the subject matter. The film inserts a needed tonal shift when Jackson and his fellow prosecutors, including Britain’s David Maxwell-Fyfe (Richard E. Grant), enter into evidence stark, never-before-seen footage of the concentration camps. Vanderbilt lets it just play, with narration but no music, to breathtaking effect for the characters and the audience.
Malek is more effective here than he was in his Oscar-winning role in Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody.” As Kelley, he goes from a confident, even cocky shrink to a man who’s rocked to his core when finally understanding the horrifying nature of the Holocaust. Crowe is even more superb – and ready to crash awards season – playing the charismatic and dangerous Göring through various stages of vanity, anger, self-assurance and even vulnerability. He’s magnetic and scary, without overly chewing the scenery.
But from an emotional standpoint, Leo Woodall notches the film’s standout performance as Howie Triest, a translator working with Kelley who reveals his extremely personal connection to the Holocaust in an affecting, tear-jerking scene.
While definitely rousing, especially in the courtroom drama aspect, “Nuremberg” doesn’t hammer you with feelings – a little more would have been ideal but the film also isn’t clinically stoic. Vanderbilt is more intent on making the point that when it comes to the dangers of fascism, history has a tendency to repeat itself.
“The world needs to know what these men did so that it can never happen again,” Jackson says of the Nazis, imparting a lesson that the current world would be wise to heed.
How to watch ‘Nuremberg’
The historical drama “Nuremberg,” starring Russell Crowe and Rami Malek, is in theaters Nov. 7. It’s rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association “for violent content involving the Holocaust, strong disturbing images, suicide, some language, smoking and brief drug content.”
If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services.
