Nuremberg. Powerful drama. Excellent film!

You’d be correct to presume that the two lead actors would deliver knockout performances in this new movie. Hermann Goring (Russell Crowe) and U.S. Army shrink Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) have a compelling relationship before, during and after the trial of the highest ranking surviving Nazi and several of his henchmen.

A surprise is Michael Shannon’s acting. He plays U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson. Shannon’s a solid actor but his work here is a few notches above his normal level. It’s a juicy role for him and he brings it home.

Goring is captured after the war has ended. Should the allies just shoot him and move on? Justice Jackson suggests an international tribunal would allow the world to know the details of the German’s horrific acts. Jackson meets the pope to seek the pontiff’s sanction for such a trial. He becomes the lead prosecutor.

Yes, Nuremberg is a courtroom drama. But much of the film’s narrative occurs outside the courtroom. Kelley meets newswoman Lila (Lydia Peckham) on his train ride to Nuremberg. Her appearance later in the film leads to a key development.

Kelley is assigned to evaluate the Nazis as they await trial. His conversations with Goring lead him to have a level of respect—almost an admiration—for the Nazi murderer. He even serves as a go-between, taking missives from Goring to his wife.

Kelley is joined along the way by Dr. Gustav Gilbert (Colin Hanks) who tries to provide input and assistance to Kelley but they clash. Prosecution teammate Brit Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe (Richard E. Grant) helps justice Jackson in his courtroom face-off with Goring. Kelley’s translator Howie Triest (Leo Woodall) adds an important viewpoint.

Nuremberg has several scenes of the Nazi death camps, offering visual evidence of the mass killings of Jews, showing piles of human bodies and evidence of abuse of those still alive. Even if you’ve seen some of these images before, their effect is still gut wrenching eighty years later. Obviously this film montage of Nazi terror was a vital element of the case that led to the conviction and sentencing of Goring and his associates.

James Valentine wrote and directed Nuremberg. He does a nice job of balancing all the story’s parts and not getting bogged down in its focus on Goring or on the drama inside the courtroom. Bravo, Mr. Valentine!

There are those who will (and have already) compare what happened in Nazi Germany to our recent political history in the United States. But equating a president who works to consolidate executive power and punish his political enemies with a regime that slaughtered six million humans is ridiculous. 

Could what happened in Germany a century ago happen here? Could it happen anywhere? Is our species prone to evil behavior if unchecked? Is there a lesson for the world from the Nuremberg trial? Yes. This new film reiterates that lesson and reminds us of what happened then and should never be forgotten.

Nuremberg is rated R. It runs just under two-and-a-half hours.