A Dangerous Method: A Not So Dangerous Film

“Sometimes you have to do something unforgivable in order to go on living.”
A Dangerous Method, directed by David Cronenberg, is about psychiatrist Carl Jung’s (Michael Fassbender) relationship with a patient, Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), and his waning friendship with fellow psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen).  The film also focuses on the contrasting practices of the Freud and Jung.

First of all, A Dangerous Method is a very smartly written movie.  The most interesting parts are when either doctor is studying his patient, whether it be Jung studying Spielrein, or as it seems like he is doing, Freud studying Jung.  To see what they could pull out of a simple dream, how it connects to the human subconscious, is fascinating.

The problem with this, however, is it makes the rest of the film less involving.  I did not really care about Jung's personal life and family, because I just wanted to see more of the doctors in practice.  Luckily, these scenes were often short, and his family was not too important of a role in the film.

Running at 99 minutes, the A Dangerous Method could have been a little longer.  The relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud could have been explored in more detail.  You hear a lot of their interactions through writing, but I would much rather had it be through personal conversation.  I was also expecting their relationship to have more of an emotional climax, but right when I thought it would happen, another, seemingly unnecessary event occurred.

Along with the script, the acting is very well done in A Dangerous Method.  Near the beginning of the film, Keira Knightley is just flat out crazy.  Everything she does is exaggerated, but it works.  I thought I would not enjoy character this insane, but Knightley was still able to give a Spielrein a sense of humanity.  Michael Fassbender, who plays Carl Jung is also good.  Jung’s battling emotions are greatly portrayed by Fassbender, you can still see each individual one, even when he is trying to suppress them.

Michael Fassbender is perhaps the best breakout star of the year, already awarded best breakout man by GQ Magazine.  While appearing in Inglourious Basterds in 2009, he has had a great year in 2011, starring in Jane Eyre, X-Men First Class, and is already receiving high acclaim for his performance in Shame, which will be released on December 2nd.

A Dangerous Method has some minor problems, but they are easily dismissible because of the good things.  I recommend seeing this, but it may be hard to find in a theater because of its limited release.  Nevertheless, A Dangerous Method succeeds with an intriguing script, and great performances by Keira Knightley and Michael Fassbender.