A Dangerous MethodMovie Reviews

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So-so Based on 154 reviews
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Oh No!
Written January 8, 2012
A Dangerous Fiction

by One-in-Many-in-One

Ranks up there with "Holy Smoke" as one of the most unwatchable films,says my grown son. The dialog was bad, the scene selection was bad, the editing was as bad as we've seen in a studio-produced film. David Cronenberg should be embarrassed.
Viggo did well with Sigmund, Michael did fine with the fictitious character called Carl Jung, and Keira did well with the conflated character that was Sabina, but these were inflated characters and not close to the historical people. An why would a story about three of the most intellectual, creative minds of the early 20th century focus on the kinky stuff? Sell tickets?
My wife is a Ph.D from a Jungian Graduate Institute. This was painful for her to watch.
- 28 out of 34 found this review helpful.
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So-so
Written December 26, 2011
A Dangerous Method

by subabe

For all of the film's Merchant Ivory production values and imaginative cinematography, the end result was as deeply felt and emotionally wrenching as watching paint dry or sitting still for 109 minutes while Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen read the phonebook. That alone was almost worth the price of a ticket. Keira Knightly's performance was riveting in her early mad scenes, but her later characterization, like her accent, rambled all over the map. The film's main character is not these historical figures, but rather the philosophical debate they waged over the theoretical basis underpinning the inception of psychoanalysis. "A Dangerous Method" dramatizes that inquiry in a cinematic experience akin to viewing Victorian era drawing room conversations on Masterpiece Theater, though this film is a lot easier on the eyes. If you enjoy inconclusive cinematic storytelling, this might be your cup of tea. If you're looking for engagement and resolution, you won't find it here.
- 11 out of 13 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written January 28, 2012
Very disappointing

by

I was waiting for this film to come out for some time but once I went to see it, I couldn't wait for it to be over. It was one of those films where you walk in and after the first 10 minutes of over-dramatization, you knew it was gonna be painful and awkward especially with such a plot. Keira Knightley's performance was incredibly overdone and amateur and the portrayal of Freud was incredibly inaccurate. The script and accuracy of freudian/jungian theories were the only accurate and okay aspects of the film. Overall, it was very long, drawn out, emotionless, bland, boring, and just a waste of time and film. I expected a lot more coming from Cronenberg.
- 11 out of 16 found this review helpful.
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Written February 6, 2012
A Dangerous Method

by shermnpat

I'm a mental health professional and went to see this with another MH pro and my husband. The movie improved much as it worked itself toward the middle and end. Certainly an unrealistic portrait of mental health issues and treatment, but I have a jaded eye. The biggest improvement would have been to spare us all from Keira Knightley!!!!!! Thought her face was going to explode. It would have gone a long way to have an actress who could convey psychiatric illness via a different (and more realistic) method. Someone like Elizabeth Olsen perhaps. Overall, I'd say it's a go for us psych junkies. Plus, who wouldn't want to look at Michael Fassbender!
- 10 out of 14 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written January 23, 2012
BORING movie

by SineWave

Although the theme is supposed to be "sex," and Keira has tried her best in the role, this movie is merely one BORING conversation after another. The sex scenes are barely PG rated. There is not enough action to keep the viewer engrossed. The director is so busy being an intellectual that he creates a movie that only academicians could potentially be interested in, and even many of them would walk away unsatisfied. Not for kids, teens, or frankly, anyone who enjoys movies; this should have remained a book, or a stage play for those too highbrow to admit they'd rather attend musicals. There was potential for better entertainment, but it was not achieved.
- 12 out of 19 found this review helpful.
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No
Written January 29, 2012
Yawn.......yawn......zzzzzzzz

by ianswan37

I was hoping very much to find this an engaging film. I studio Jung and Freud and was hoping for some sort of compelling story. Instead, I was delivered a three course snoozer. Kiera overacts, though likely the Cronenbergs fault. And as much as at least half of us don't mind seeing Knightly get spanked, it doesn't exactly make for a movie.
- 9 out of 13 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written January 28, 2012
Awful Awful Bore

by indjeff

Terribly boring, good sleep. I don't even understand why this movie was made. It doesn't make a good documentary and there was absolutely no plot. Terrible script, terrible actors. Bad movie all around.
- 8 out of 11 found this review helpful.
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Written February 7, 2012
A Dangerous Method

by Rafaels_Creative

I don't get all the negative fan reviews. This film was very well acted and impeccably directed by David Cronenberg. I was not at all bored by the film or the dialog, I found it intriguing and thought-provoking. One of the reviewers said Carl Jung was a fictional character. I suppose that says something about the reviewer. If you're all about action films, regurgitated rom-coms and 'caviar for the masses' comedies then this is not your kind of movie.
- 7 out of 9 found this review helpful.
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No
Written February 8, 2012
Some Things About Notable Figures Should Remain Unknown.

by Alon Patterson

This was an extraordinarily melancholy film, bursting with angst and "ham-like" over-the-top acting. It wasn't so much so as to be comical though, as that would have been a pleasant relief from what otherwise was an extremely dull and uninteresting cinematic waste. One would probably be aghast at what this feature cost to produce, only to result in this genuinely awful hodge-podge of a snoozer. Skip it. It's not worth the ticket price or the misery. You might want to pass on it on cable too. It's that dull.
- 7 out of 10 found this review helpful.
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No
Written January 3, 2012
Dull dull dull

by ktarapata

A movie about sex, desire and spanking that is boring and unemotional. The actors just sit there. They actually made Kiera Knightly unattractive. What a waste of time.
- 10 out of 16 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written February 3, 2012
A DANGEROUS METHOD

by MTCREY

ACTING WAS GOOD ALTHOUGH I THINK THE FEMALE LEAD OVERDID IT A LITTLE. ON A WHOLE, IT WAS VERY SLOOOOOOW AND BORING. WE BOTH FELL ASLEEP AND I NEVER DO THAT
- 8 out of 12 found this review helpful.
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Oh No!
Written October 7, 2012
Abandon Hope of Learning Anything about Freud, Jung, or Psychoanalysis ...

by wricketts

... all ye who enter here. One might guess that a film about the ?talking cure? would be a ?talking bore,? but still: With Cronenberg at the helm and Keira Knightley and Viggo Mortensen in the cast, so much more was possible. Instead, Mortensen is an insufferably pompous and idiotic Freud and Knightley?s acting consists of a series of teeth-baring grimaces that are painful to watch. Cronenberg?s vision is clearly this: Jung=good, Freud=bad. I?d say ?fair enough,? except that it isn?t a fair representation by a long shot, and neither men comes across as what each was: a genius. Freud is self-satisfied and inarticulate, and Jung is dithering and self-loathing. More to the point, Cronenberg apparently decided that the average moviegoer would be too stupid to understand anything about psychoanalysis or the real differences between Freud and Jung, so it glosses over everything. The last half-hour is such an exercise in unbearable tedium that you can hardly wait for the Nazis to show up.
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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So-so
Written January 7, 2012
A dangerous method

by TheBlackEbert

While some others went to happy hour right after work I chose to watch a film on Sigmund Freud (Played wonderfully by Viggo Mortensen) and his reluctant protege Carl Jung. A story layered by psychoanalysis theory and weaved with Carl Jung's struggle with his private life. Director David Cronenberg(TheFly, A History of Violence) worked his magic as usual and it worked for the most part until Sabina Spielrein (Played by Keira Knightley) arrives seemingly only to twist her face and get spanked(LOL) All and all it wasn't too bad but definantly not for everybody! C+
- 9 out of 15 found this review helpful.
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No
Written June 23, 2012
Stay away!

by dollwithouteyes

Very boring. I love modern psychology and am especially interested in dream analysis, but this film was rather cliche and simplistic in the techniques employed by Jung and Freud, there were few truly exciting discussions. Both Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen can act a hundred times better than this. While they both looked of the period, they could be repetitive, changing little from scene to scene. They didn't bring much energy. Though understated expression is necessary to convey era, I don't feel either actor was fully comfortable in their role. Both of them have some good moments though. Keira Knightley on the other hand was just atrocious! I was never a fan of hers, I think she always feels like a movie star or model in every role, she's phoney. But my opinion of her has plummeted to new lows-- this is the worst actress in the world! She plays a stereotypical blithering loony, on par with early camp like Reefer Madness or Maniac. She's worse than the actress from Showgirls.
- 5 out of 7 found this review helpful.
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Written February 5, 2012
A Dangerous Method is Excellent

by rundeep

As a psychotherapist, I felt like I was derelict in not knowing this snippet of our professional history. The movie was very well done and the visuals were luxuriant. Certainly, most of us have moved on to what Jung is communicated as starting in his departure from Freud, and he has always been a more sympathetic character in my mind. The sexual charge of it all remains, as therapy is an intimate experience, and knowing one's boundaries is paramount. Apparently some of our forefathers did not have that part down so well and lived the dilemma. The tension, and the value of it for creative power to a lesser extent was portrayed well. We really enjoyed this movie.
- 7 out of 11 found this review helpful.
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