How does one even begin to condense the behemoth of the Nuremberg trials into a 2.5-hour movie? The first of the many trials, focused on the Major Nazi criminals, lasted eleven months. It was a complicated affair, to say the least. The war had ravaged nations, destroyed millions of lives, and left tatters in its wake.

The question after the war was what to do with the remaining Nazi high command. The UK and the Soviet Union wanted to execute those captured. The US thought it would be better to establish a new court of international law. Ultimately, the International Military Tribunal was established. The USSR, France, the UK, and the US were the key countries represented. Twenty-two of the surviving leaders of Nazi Germany tried to defend their reprehensible actions.

In the melee of this, hundreds of reporters, interpreters, researchers, lawyers, and psychologists descended into Nuremberg. One of whom was Lt. Colonel Douglas Kelley. He served as chief psychologist at Nuremberg for the first few months of the trial. His experience was detailed in the non-fiction book, The Nazi And The Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai. This book serves as the basis for the movie Nuremberg, written and directed by James Vanderbilt.

Over the course of the film, we learn not only about Doug Kelley (Rami Malek—channelling his role from Mr. Robot). There is also Hermann Göring (an impressive Russell Crowe), an apex predator if there ever was one. Filling supporting roles are Michael Shannon, giving his best as US prosecutor Robert H. Jackson and Richard E. Grant as UK prosecutor Maxwell Fife, who teams up nicely with Mr Jackson. Alongside them, Leo Woodall is Sgt Howie Triest, a compelling interpreter who works with Mr Kelley, and John Slattery, who gives a variation of his role as Roger in Mad Men, as Colonel Burton Andrus, the man in charge of the prison.

Nuremberg is an ambitious film—first, the positives. The plot is well-crafted and flows smoothly. One hardly notices the length, unless one has had too many sips of water. Russell Crowe is fantastic, although at brief interludes, he comes across as himself, rather than Göring. But this is minor, and most likely he will be up for another Oscar nomination. The cinematography is excellent, with scenes shot both in colour and black and white. The costuming and set designs are also historically accurate. However, there are more than a few anachronistic hair issues though out the movie. What exactly happened in the hair department? It's an odd blip.

Rami Malek tries with his role as the psychiatrist, determining if his patients are sane enough to stand trial. At times he comes across as more frantic than cerebral; one never quite understands who this man is that Rami is trying to portray. The emotional character arc is almost flattened as a result. His personal conclusion seems tacked on. Consider Oppenheimer, where we saw a man go from exuberance to being aghast at what he's created. Rami is like a stressed-out cat peering at birds out a window from start to finish. What did viewers learn about Douglas Kelley? He is at his most intriguing when analysing his patients.

Compare this with Russell Crowe, who portrays a Göring unable to give up whatever power he can scrounge. Narcissistic, yet deeply in love with his wife, we understand this monstrous man more than Mr Kelley. It's so jarring, one wonders why the epilogue even focuses on Kelley. His presence lingers over the film even when he is not on-screen.

All in all however, Nuremberg is a fabulous and important film to watch. It provides a good understanding of the immediate post-war challenges in what exactly to do with these awful people. The real-life denouement is sadder. Most of the Nazis seemed to magically disappear overnight. Money and time constraints meant that more than a few escaped the hands of justice. The Cold War hampered the use of future International Tribunals until the 90's.

Watch the film for what is sure to be an Oscar nomination for Russell Crowe, and to further understand the horrors of the Second World War.

Nuremberg is on nationwide release now