Nuremberg (USA, 2025. Dir: James Vanderbilt): Films tackling sprawling historical narratives fill me with dread. Because of their massive scope, this kind of movie tends to oversimplify complex matters and stuff dialogue with “important” facts like a turkey on Thanksgiving Eve.

Nuremberg avoids these pitfalls. It has other problems, but not the obvious ones.

Written for the screen and directed by competent scribe James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, Scream 5 and 6), Nuremberg approaches the trial of Hermann Göring and other high-ranking Nazi officials through the eyes of U.S. Army psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek). Kelley’s task is to establish that these men were willing accomplices in crimes against humanity and not just “following orders”.

While most of the accused are true believers and have no qualms about acknowledging their involvement, Göring (Russell Crowe) is a different breed. More of a pragmatist than his fellow Nazis, the former Reichsmarschall plans to argue that he neither participated in nor was made aware of the Final Solution. A charming man even in the direst of circumstances, Kelley (and, by extension, the viewer) finds himself captivated by Göring, whose dispassionate assessment of World War II is not off the mark.

At a higher level, the audience’s stand-in is the chief U.S. prosecutor Robert Jackson (Michael Shannon), a legalist tasked with preventing the proceedings from turning into a circus —a distinct possibility when the accused are fanatics and the Allied forces are chomping at the bit to see them executed.

As mentioned, the many forces at play are represented by a handful of characters, and the liberties taken with real events —though thoroughly documented— are considerable. Yet Nuremberg works fine for three-quarters of its length. Vanderbilt’s narrative is elegant and dispenses information with wit rather than spoon-feeding you with it.

Another major asset is the cast. Russell Crowe underplays Hitler’s second-in-command to great effect. As depicted in the film, Göring isn’t a hissable villain but a cagey strategist capable of playing everyone like a fiddle. Another standout is Leo Woodall (Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy) as the psychiatrist’s translator and Jiminy Cricket equivalent. The up-and-comer Woodall turns a walking cliché into the badly needed moral centre of the film.

Nuremberg’s climactic showdown is, however, a letdown. The film builds up to a Few Good Men-like confrontation between Göring and the American prosecutor, but the outcome is drier than a mass-produced cookie. The movie’s motif —ultimate evil can emerge from the most average of men — doesn’t quite develop organically and is hammered home toward the end with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. These blemishes don’t quite sink the movie, but the feeling of a missed opportunity is hard to shake. ★★★☆☆

Nuremberg is now playing.