<\/p>\n
\u201cNuremberg,\u201d <\/a>despite its post-World War II setting, is a film firmly of the moment and that may be its primary flaw.<\/p>\n For a film that features two memorable performances from Russell Crowe<\/a> and Rami Malek<\/a>, that\u2019s disappointing because the subject matter is fascinating in itself.<\/p>\n Director-writer James Vanderbilt<\/a> has crafted an immersive picture not laced with tons of action, but one strengthened by nuance, emotional depth and psychological parrying between the film\u2019s two leads \u2013 Hermann Goering (Crowe), the named successor of Adolf Hitler and his psychiatrist Douglas Kenney (Malek), the army doctor assigned to determine whether those high-ranking Nazi officers were mentally competent to stand trial. Popular belief at the time dictated that sane individuals could not have possibly committed the atrocities \u2013 killing six million Jews in the Holocaust in particular \u2013 that the Third Reich ultimately did.<\/p>\n Kelley found in some cases mental health issues may have indeed existed. However, in Goering he discovered something more \u2013 a man with close to genius level I.Q. who was narcissistic, egocentric and fully in control of his ability to make decisions with respect to the Nazi regime, acquiescing to the orders of Hitler and condoning them.<\/p>\n He does so through their conversations which make it particularly difficult to not be charmed by Goering and his flattery. In return, Kelley, until being replaced by another psychologist (Colin Hanks<\/a>) after his commanding officer believes he\u2019s getting too close to his patient, receives information for use by the prosecution led by Supreme Court justice Robert H. Jackson (Michael Shannon of \u201cMan of Steel\u201d).<\/p>\n The intrigue in \u201cNuremberg\u201d comes in watching Crowe and Malek play off one another, initially feeling each other out to learn what it is the other is after. That initial period evolves for a time into genuine friendship between the men, the reason for Kelley being replaced, but eventually reality that Goering is a manipulative monster who is absolutely capable of the heinous acts that ultimately led to his conviction at the Nuremberg trials reveals itself.<\/p>\n