Sometimes in movies, nearly everything clicks. The characters are richly drawn, the acting is sharp, the look and feel genuine, the story compelling, even thought-provoking. The stars have aligned for David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method," a finely drawn portrait of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and the early days of psychoanalysis.

The movie stars Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender. Although he is third-billed, this is Michael's film. He is mesmerizing as the buttoned-up Jung, who is determined to discover new methods for treating the disarray of the human mind while also deferring to his more learned mentor, Dr. Freud. This is Fassbender's fourth recent first-rate performance ("Shame," "Jane Eyre," "X-Men: First Class"), remarkable in the special effects age.

Jung's encounters with Freud are beautifully realized by Cronenberg and his team, director of photography Peter Suschitzky, production designer James McAteer and editor Ronald Sanders. They make "A Dangerous Method" a refreshingly smart film that actually lives up to the label "psychological drama."

Mortensen as Freud epitomizes the wise old soul who is part-scientist, part-intellectual revolutionary. This is Mortensen's third straight collaboration with Cronenberg following "A History of Violence" and "Eastern Promises," and the ease and rhythm from working together so often pay off in the effortless grace of Mortensen's portrayal. It is some of his finest film work ever.

Alas, there is a less-than-enthralling performance, and that belongs to Knightley as Sabina Spielrein. When we first encounter her, she is a frantic Russian patient, sexually deranged following years of abuse. Knightley is all contorted face and lunging jaw, and it's all a bit over-the-top. Her eventual transformation is remarkable, and as the film shifts from Switzerland to Vienna, and ticks off the years from 1904 to the eve of the first World War in 1914, we encounter a Spielrein we never could have imagined.

Cronenberg has taken great care with his psychoanalytical flashback, also garnering terrific supporting turns from Sarah Gadon as Jung's wife, Emma, and Vincent Cassel as gonzo psychoanalyst Otto Gross, who encourages everyone to give in to his or her desires. Christopher Hampton adapted the script from his play "The Talking Cure," which was based on the book "A Most Dangerous Method: The story of Jung, Freud and Sabina Spielrein" by clinical psychologist and historian John Kerr.

With Mr. Flashes-of-Violence at the helm, I kept waiting for someone to whip out a pistol, a rifle or at least an ax to set the blood spurts flying. Nope. With "A Dangerous Method," Cronenberg has created an honest-to-goodness (albeit twisted) historical period piece. A really good one.