Time: 148 Minutes
Age Rating: M – Holocaust imagery and suicide
Cast:
Russell Crowe as Hermann Göring
Rami Malek as Douglas Kelley
Leo Woodall as Sgt. Howie Triest
John Slattery as Burton C. Andrus
Mark O’Brien as John Amen
Colin Hanks as Gustave Gilbert
Wrenn Schmidt as Elsie Douglas
Lydia Peckham as Lila
Michael Shannon as Robert H. Jackson
Richard E. Grant as Sir David Maxwell Fyfe
Director: James Vanderbilt

Nuremberg looked like a standard historical drama, but the cast of actors including Russell Crowe, Rami Malek and Michael Shannon had me interested to check it out. It turned out better than I expected it to be.

Nuremberg was a rather generic historical drama with cliches and courtroom tropes, but well made nonetheless, and was engaging enough with the right level of urgency. It is entertaining and the movie does a lot to keep things interesting, though sometimes the dialogue can be a bit too quippy and witty for its own good and tonally feels out of place. One notable aspect is that it fixates on how atrocities like the holocaust can happen anytime and anywhere, not just by the Germans or the Nazis. It is warning that this could happen again, which is a fairly relevant message. Nuremberg feels its length of 2.5 hours especially in its second half, despite being fairly gripping.

The movie benefits from a great ensemble cast. Russell Crowe is great as Herman Göring, delivering the right amount of charm and menace and chewing up all of his scenes, one of his better recent performances. Rami Malek also works quite well as Göring’s psychiatrist, he conveys a lot of the conflict within his character. Michael Shannon, Leo Woodall, John Slattery and Richard E. Grant are really good in their parts.

James Vanderbilt’s direction is fine. The production design and costumes are decent enough and the movie is shot well, but that’s about it. The score from Brian Tyler is quite good and fitting though.

Nuremberg is a conventional, but solid and engaging enough WW2 historical drama, with a stellar cast of great performances.