If Russell Crowe didn’t make another film, Nuremberg would be a fitting swan song, for he plays the wily Nazi Herman Göring, the central defendant in the famous post war crime trial with suitable pompousness but with a power, on par with his old gladiator days.
This “behind the scenes” film version has Rami Malik as the psychiatrist Douglas Kelly who is employed by the Americans to assess each of the 22 defendants for the likelihood of self harm. It is him who plays a cat and mouse game with the German second in command and he who reports back to the prosecutor Robert Jackson ( Michael Shannon) with snippets of information that will allow the allies to win a courtroom battle with the slippery German.
As someone well versed with the behaviour of psychiatrists, I found Malik’s interpretation odd to say the least. He is angry, smirky, overly involved and no way objective. The performance is overblown and unrealistic and therefore the interplay with Crowe, ( who steals every scene they share) is incredibly uneven.
Shannon , is suitably intense as Jackson, and both Leo Woodall and Richard E Grant shine as a Jewish German army translator and the Tory MP, David Maxwell Fife who finally saves the day.
I will leave you with this, the Waitrose Christmas Advert….its lovely, but has triggered in me a troubling worry with the tone of this year’s adverts…..more with that another time
This is the first time I have sen this Waitrose ad, and isn't it an odd one? If she is really supposed to be playing 'herself' should someone not tell her star struck geek that she is allegedly happily married? And has been for some years. But if not, what is the whole advert really about? There are indeed some very strange Christmas ads this year.
ReplyDeleteRami Malik is a not very talented actor, but has made his career having exotic looks which allowed him to impersonate Freddie Mercury and for some reason win an Oscar for doing so (although this in itself says more about the state of the Oscars these days. Don't get me started.) He was a totally unimpressive Bond villain and impresses less every time I watch him.
Russell Crowe, on the other hand, is an exceptional talent who let his private life get in the way of what should have been his best years. Before Gladiator he made some very fine indie/Aussie films, all worth catching up with, starting with Romper Stomper, and was superb in the film immediately before Gladiator, The Insider, one of my favourites. And not forgetting his incandescent turn as the brutal cop with a heart in LA Confidential.
He has recently made a couple of superb horror films, starring as a exorcist priest - well worth a look. he is still one of my favourite actors and clearly going into a new era of excellence. He is also, as I know from experience, a lovely and very kind human being.
I hadn't seen the Waitrose ad, but it's overly long and a bit too sugary sentimental, to my way of thinking. It can't be easy coming up with a new Christmas ad, though, but they do seem to get weirder and weirder each year! xx
ReplyDeleteI remember a late 1950s or early 1960s (didn't look it up!) film titled Judgement at Nuremberg with Spenser Tracy that was incredible. Am glad you liked the movie and Russel Crowe's performance. Surely he spends a good deal of his time on your sidebar with Chic Eleanor!!
ReplyDeleteSeems like a lengthy version of the part Keira played in Love Actually, going out in the snow after the love-struck friend has shown her the signs he's made - ya know?
Hugs!
Russell Crowe is capable of great depth as an actor. I'm looking forward to seeing "Nuremberg."
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