Film Review: Nuremberg

Welcome back to the blog readers. You may know by now that biographical films are some of the most intriguing ones to watch for their fictionalized depiction of past events. You would know this since one of them is one of my favorite films of all time in Oppenheimer (2023). Knowing one was going to focus on the Nuremberg trials instantly hooked me, since it was terrible and evil people getting their just desserts. Would this film about events that set international precedent be able to wow me as much as a film like Oppenheimer did? Stick around to find out.

Nuremberg was written and directed by James Vanderbilt, based on the 2013 book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai. The film stars Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O'Brien, Colin Hanks, Wrenn Schmidt, Lydia Peckham, Richard E. Grant, and Michael Shannon. The film chronicles the relationship between psychiatrist Douglas Kelley and high-ranking Nazi Hermann Göring (alongside other high-ranking Nazis that were captured) in the preparation of and during the Nuremberg trials.

While not one of my most anticipated films for the rest of the year, it is definitely one I was looking forward to. The two main aspects that got me hooked in this film had to be the subject matter and the talent attached to the project. Knowing that we are in Oscars season added a bit more prestige onto this film since it is an Oscar-baity kind of film. And it helps that this film was pretty good to boot. The performances (especially from Russell Crowe and Rami Malek) were stellar, as was the subject matter, but the runtime and pacing and certain emotional beats are things I had some issues with.

I want to start by talking about the performance of Russell Crowe. Is there anything I really need to say about one of the best and most reliable guys in the business, who is an Academy Award winner (but also haphazardly and foolishly took a role in Kraven the Hunter (2024)). But his turn in this film as high-ranking Nazi Hermann Göring was something I never expected to see from him. Normally, Crowe takes on the role of the hero (or the antihero in some situations), but to see him take on one of the most evil men to have ever lived was a tall order and he rose to the occasion brilliantly. Crowe does a masterful job of making you feel for and despise this man at the same time with his undeniable charm and wit. Mix that with the fury that he brings to certain scenes, and you have one of the most emotionally diverse performances of the year. Crowe is not a frontrunner for Best Actor, but he should be on a shortlist.

The next performance I want to talk about has some of the same qualities that Russell Crowe did in his performance, but there is a whole lot less evil and malice in the performance of Academy Award winner Rami Malek. Malek has quickly become one of my favorite actors, giving great performances (even in things I do not like such as The Little Things (2021), Amsterdam (2022), and this year's The Amateur (2025)). But his turn in this film as psychiatrist Douglas Kelley is extremely layered, extremely complex emotionally, and downright mesmerizing at times. I found myself entranced whenever I saw him on screen, and he takes advantage of every emotional beat he can, which is the mark of a great actor. I know he is not in the running for Best Supporting Actor, but damn it he deserves to be because this performance proves why he won that Oscar.

I next want to talk about the writing and the subject matter of this film. I did mention that a large portion of this film had to do with the preparation and execution of the Nuremberg trials, in which whatever high-ranking Nazis were captured by the Allies were put up in front of an International Military Tribunal and sentenced to death by hanging, and all of that stuff is done very well. They even decide to show real footage of the camps and the horrors that the Jewish captors had to deal with, and this is supposed to get you riled up and emotional. But I feel like the script has a bit of a balancing act to perform and I do not think it did it very well. I kind of feel like Vanderbilt's script is not able to balance the emotions that we get from our characters with the emotions we are meant to feel when seeing the atrocities of the Nazis.

And finally, I need to talk about what we get in the pacing department, because this is a major issue that is plaguing major films this year. Did people forget how to pace their films or something, because this is something that has not started in this year. This film is 148 minutes (or 2 hours and 28 minutes) long. And the trial does not start until roughly an hour in, and not much focus is pointed towards the trial itself, more on the relationship between Douglas Kelley and Hermann Göring. Personally, I would have liked to see less scenes in the exposition between the two men and more preparation for (or even more of) the trial which shares the name of this film. This, in my eyes, is the biggest detriment to the film (and to films in general in 2025).

In conclusion, Nuremberg is an emotionally shaky look at one of history's most defining moments, anchored in award-level performances from its leads. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.