A Dangerous Method ————————————5/10
Directed by David Cronenberg, Written by Christopher Hampton, Starring Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel and Sarah Gadon
Fandango Synopsis- In 1904 a Russian woman named Sabina Spielrein arrives at Carl Jung’s clinic, seeking treatment for hysteria. Jung is eager to test Sigmund Freud’s theories on Sabina and, in fact, successfully treats her. Two years later Jung and Sabina meet Freud in person, and Jung takes over the treatment of Otto Gross, whose influence leads Jung to begin an affair with Sabina, contributing to a rift with Freud.
Positives- The best scenes in the film are when you get Viggo’s Freud and Fassbender’s Jung discussing or arguing their philosophies. A lot of their discussions didn’t have a ton of frame of reference for me, but those two actors are really good and worked well together. You could feel the animosity from Freud and the frustration from Jung.
Viggo Mortensen is one of the best actors working today and completely disappears into his roles every time. He does so again in A DANGEROUS METHOD. I don’t know enough of about Freud to be able to recognize whether Viggo accurately portrays the man, but I can say I bought the character and all his cigar chomping. Viggo’s Freud is fun to watch.
Keira Knightley is an actress that ALWAYS bothers me. She seems to genuinely want to be a part of interesting films, rarely going with the money roles, but she never seems to convince me, but instead annoys the hell out of me. (NEVER LET ME GO being an example) That being said, I think she gives a brave performance in A DANGEROUS METHOD. After hearing how over the top her performance was supposed to be, I was positive I was going to loathe her, but while not close to perfect, I think she delivered. I think she went to places that very few actresses would be willing to attempt. She wants to be a great actress and the effort showed.
Vincent Cassel had one scene as Freud disciple Otto Gross and he brought more energy in his few minutes than the rest of the film did in one hundred. He brought life to the screen and Gross’ short time with Jung made a huge impression on Jung, altering his views for the rest of his life.
Negatives- A DANGEROUS METHOD is a near lifeless film. It fell dramatically flat for me. Michael Fassbender’s Jung is your lead character and he’s easily the least dynamic and interesting of them all.
You are meant to care about Jung and Sabina Spielrein’s relationship but I couldn’t care a less. The same with Jung’s family life and interactions with his wife. Tons of time is spent on this stuff, including the films final minutes, but I wasn’t interested in the least. The interesting stuff had to do with his relationship with Freud and the theories of Jung, Freud, Gross and Spielrein, but that stuff kind of disappears near the end.
Even the more interesting stuff between Freud and Jung was a little too academic and dry. I didn’t have a context to put a lot of it in, therefore I didn’t grasp all of it. The enjoyment was more about their interactions than it was the specifics of what they were saying.
Verdict- A DANGEROUS METHOD sounds better on paper than it turned out on screen. It’s well acted with Viggo disappearing into another role and Knightley going places few others would, but your lead character, Jung, his family drama and his affairs are all a bit of a bore. Individual conversations and some of the exchanging of theories between Jung, Freud, Gross and Spielrein are interesting, but as a drama the film is lifeless. I still think there is a more engaging story to be told with these characters, but A DANGEROUS METHOD was a disappointment to me. I think there may be a small audience to which A DANGEROUS METHOD really works (maybe those who know more about these real life characters and their methods), but for most I don’t recommend seeking it out.
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