Supreme Court Robert H. Jackson (Alec Baldwin) is appointed chief prosecutor of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. Jackson takes part in the trials of Nazi high command, most notably slimy Hermann Goering (Brian Cox) and repentant Albert Speer (Herbert Knaup). Their case seems airtight, though Jackson's disgust with the defendants threatens to derail the trial's impartiality. All the while, Jackson and his colleagues ponder what drove German to such madness.
With Simoneau's classy direction and an ace acting roster, Nuremberg certainly isn't dull. But David W. Rintel's script isn't interested in these debates; it's a rote condemnation of Nazi evil. Thorny issues (the jurisdiction of separate powers, Nazi guilt and culpability) are elided or downplayed. When valid questions are raised (how much are the trials mere "winner's justice"?) it's through Goering - and who listens to the adipose Nazi? One almost misses the overblown Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), which at least acknowledges contrary points of view.
This isn't Nuremberg's only flaw. Simoneau jams the film with incidental subplots that water down the main drama. There's Jackson's affair with an assistant (Jill Hennessy), which eats screentime without making much impact. Understandable that the filmmakers wanted a human element, but must it be so tedious? Conversely, while Goering and Speer at least register, Nuremberg reduces bigwigs like Rudolf Hess and Joachim Von Ribbentrop to bit players. The film tries probing them via a psychologist (Matt Craven) which only reduces National Socialism to soundbites. Only the trial scenes work.
Alec Baldwin provides the film a reasonable moral center. But Brian Cox (Zodiac) dominates; garrulous yet unrepentant, his Georing makes a charmingly complex monster. Herbert Knaup and Colm Feore (Thor) play other defendants. Christopher Plummer plays Baldwin's English counterpart; Jill Hennessy his perky love interest. Max Von Sydow, Michael Ironside and Len Cariou play supporting roles.
Nuremberg isn't bad so much as underwhelming. Despite its cast and intriguing subject, it's just a stiff TV drama.