76
Metascore
41 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyPrecise, lucid and thrillingly disciplined, this story of boundary-testing in the early days of psychoanalysis is brought to vivid life by the outstanding lead performances of Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender.
- 100SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirIt's a handsome and stimulating film, noteworthy more for its terrific acting and provocative ideas than for any kind of dark Cronenbergundian genius.
- 88Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversThe actors give it their all, especially Knightley, whose jaw- jutting, heavily accented and unfairly criticized portrayal gives the film its fighting spirit.
- 80MovielineStephanie ZacharekMovielineStephanie ZacharekIn short, Cronenberg has made an elegant film, with spanking. There's some mildly kinky sex in A Dangerous Method, but Cronenberg makes it neither exploitive nor so tasteful that it loses its charge.
- 75Slant MagazineNick SchagerSlant MagazineNick SchagerAs rigorous and stimulating as its thematic inquiries are, A Dangerous Method ultimately rests as much on its performances, and in that regard, it succeeds far more than it fails.
- 70VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangThis complex story from the early days of psychoanalysis engrosses and even amuses as it unfolds through a series of conversations, treatment sessions and exchanged letters.
- 60Boxoffice MagazineSara Maria VizcarrondoBoxoffice MagazineSara Maria VizcarrondoMichael Fassbender (Fishtank, Inglourious Basterds) is reliably great, severely outclassing costar Knightley's grating performance.
- 60New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanA Dangerous Method concerns itself primarily with sex, but what's most shocking is how conservative it turns out to be.
- 50ObserverRex ReedObserverRex ReedI can't imagine what attracted these two megahunks to such a bore.
- 25Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMiami HeraldRene RodriguezEven a supporting turn by Vincent Cassell as Otto Gross, a fellow psychiatrist, cocaine addict and unapologetic adulterer, fails to enliven the movie: A Dangerous Method makes even a cokehead hedonist boring.