Anthony Hopkins is great in 'Freud's Last Session.' But the story is just one big 'what if?'

A million years ago — well, actually it was 1978, but time slips by — “Saturday Night Live” aired a sketch that asked, “What if Eleanor Roosevelt could fly?”

It was a follow-up to: “What if Napoleon had a B-52 bomber?” You get the idea.

Those sketches came to mind while watching “Freud’s Last Session,” which could be subtitled, or even actually titled, “What If Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis Sat Around Talking One Day?” Certainly director Matt Brown, who co-wrote the script with Mark St. Germain, on whose play the film is based, is aiming a lot higher than an old “SNL” skit hardly anybody remembers. That doesn’t mean he hits the mark.

The sitting around talking part is interesting — one of the great atheists debates the famous Christian apologist — although at times it plays like a kind of CliffsNotes version of both of their writings and ideas. (They were smart guys. They probably wouldn’t have to explain themselves to each other.)

What is the plot of 'Freud's Last Session?'

But what the film has going for it is Anthony Hopkins, and that is a considerable plus. Hopkins has kind of aged into the Last Great Actor phase of his career. Whether he’s playing Sigmund Freud or winning his second Oscar for “The Father” or slumming as Odin in Marvel movies, he’s basically playing a version of Anthony Hopkins.

And that is awesome. Because he’s really, really good at it.

So here his Freud is kind of like, what if Hopkins had invented psychoanalysis? You come away thinking that might be OK.

The film is set two days after Germany invades Poland. London children are being sent by train to the countryside. The nation is girding for war. For whatever reason, that’s when Freud seeks out Lewis, played by Matthew Goode, always good and often underrated.

Is 'Freud's Last Session' a true story?

There is no evidence that the two actually met; after the film ends we’re told that weeks before his death Freud met with an unnamed Oxford don. Maybe it was Lewis. Maybe it wasn’t.

But in the film Freud prepares for Lewis’ arrival as his daughter Anna (Liv Lisa Fries), herself an analyst, sets off to deliver a lecture. Along the way she passes the tardy Lewis. “Good luck,” she says.

Indeed, Freud — old, headstrong and dying — does not suffer fools gladly. He doesn’t suffer anything gladly from the looks of it. He notes that Lewis was late a few times before Lewis notes that the reason is because the trains were tied up with the evacuation of children. The war is all around, even before it has officially started.

Freud listens to news dispatches on the radio, then quickly snaps the set off. Why, Lewis wonders? Because all the music sounds like church music to him, Freud explains.

The dynamic here is Freud as teacher, Lewis as pupil. (Lewis at this point was not the established writer he would become, though he is also not unknown.) And if Freud pushes him hard enough, Lewis will challenge him — to the delight of Freud.

At one point air raid sirens go off, and the two shuffle down to a local church, where they are packed in with other people in a shelter. Lewis falls apart; it reminds him of his service in World War I, a traumatic experience that we see acted out. Brown often uses flashbacks and diversions.

Anthony Hopkins is worth the price of admission

Since this is a fanciful meeting, nothing really gets resolved. Lewis doesn’t denounce God or anything. But it’s not that kind of debate anyway. Both men seem content with the fight itself, not any actual outcome.

There is a subplot with Anna, whose relationship with Dorothy Tiffany Burlingham (Jodi Balfour) her father will not recognize. Freud controls his daughter’s life, in almost every way. He is incapable of setting her free; she is incapable of escaping him.

That’s interesting as far as it goes, but that and the flashbacks and diversions give the film a jump-around, muddled feeling. (The dark tones and lighting don’t help; at times you feel like you’re slogging through muddy water.)

But it does have Goode, which helps, and of course Hopkins, who makes the film worth the price of admission, if just barely.

'Freud's Last Session' 3 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Matt Brown.

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Goode, Liv Lisa Fries.

Rating: PG-13 for thematic material, some bloody/violent images, sexual material and smoking.

How to watch: In theaters Friday, Jan. 12.

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Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. X, formerly known as Twitter: @goodyk.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Freud's Last Session' review: Fumbling conjecture and great actors