Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession (1980)
"Bad Timing" (original title)

The setting is Vienna. A young American woman is brought to a hospital after overdosing on pills, apparently in a suicide attempt. A police detective suspects foul play on the part of her ... See full summary »

Director:

Nicolas Roeg

Writer:

Yale Udoff (screenplay)

Stars:

Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell, Harvey Keitel

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Art Garfunkel	...	Alex Linden
Theresa Russell	...	Milena Flaherty
Harvey Keitel	...	Inspector Netusil
Denholm Elliott	...	Stefan Vognic
Daniel Massey	...	Foppish Man
Dana Gillespie	...	Amy Miller
William Hootkins	...	Col. Taylor
Eugene Lipinski	...	Hospital Policeman
George Roubicek	...	Policeman #1
Stefan Gryff	...	Policeman #2
Sevilla Delofski	...	Czech Receptionist
Robert Walker	...	Konrad
Gertan Klauber	...	Ambulance Man
Ania Marson	...	Dr. Schneider
Lex van Delden	...	Young Doctor

Storyline

The setting is Vienna. A young American woman is brought to a hospital after overdosing on pills, apparently in a suicide attempt. A police detective suspects foul play on the part of her lover, an American psychology professor. As doctors try to save her life, the detective interrogates the professor, and through flashbacks we see the events leading up to the woman's overdose; her stormy and intensely sexual relationship with the professor, her heavy drinking and numerous affairs, and her estrangement from her Czech husband. A darkly erotic study of several rather unsympathetic characters.

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Plot Keywords:

professor | detective | pills | overdose | doctor | 

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Taglines:

His terrifying obsession took them to the brink of death and beyond. [Video Australia]

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English German Czech French

Release Date:

October 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Recorded Picture Company (RPC), Rank Organisation, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film did not find favour with the Rank Organisation, one executive calling it "a sick film made by sick people for sick people". As a result, Rank's logo was removed from all UK release prints.

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Quotes

Milena Flaherty: I'm not ambitious, not an artist, not a poet, not a revolutionary.

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Connections

Referenced in Watching the Alien (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Canon"
(uncredited)
Music by Johann Pachelbel
Arranged by Richard Hartley

User Reviews

Two Neurotics Duke It Out

Director Nicolas Roeg has managed to take a half hour story and extend it for 129 minutes. What you see in "Bad Timing" is a series of contests between two of the most neurotic lovers outside of "Damage" from 1992. The main characters are a professor of psychiatry, appropriately, and a young woman who demands that others allow her to live for the moment. Scene after scene we watch these two attempt to dominate each other. Their sexual couplings make the bed into an arena of emotional endurance. The loser is left crying or pleading and the winner, always unsatisfied, wants still more.

The film, rather than having a plot, is a process. We watch -- my excuse was to wait for a plot -- this sickness for over two hours and find no redemption for the characters nor for us. No reward exists at the end of the shabby rainbow.

As for mechanics, Art Garfunkle, who plays the professor, has the depth and spice of a soda cracker. He attempts to play a passionate playboy, but I can never quite get "The Sounds of Silence" out of my head. Funky and quirky Jeremy Irons, would have been a perfect choice for the part. The talented Harvey Keitel, here a sadly dysfunctional police detective, is wasted with lines dripping psycho-babble as he pleads with the professor during an interrogation. Theresa Russell, who plays the object of the professor's obsession, is given the only good lines in the film. Her role is so well-portrayed that her character occasionally engages our sympathy.

If you are in the mood for some pretentious nonsense, or want to give Art Garfunkel one more chance, check this one out. Otherwise, get neurotic on your own.