Bad Timing ** (1980, Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell, Harvey Keitel ) – Classic Movie Review 2993

Bad Timing is an upsetting and depressing experience, though it is ambitious and intelligent, and has its notable good points. Director Nicolas Roeg’s 1980 British sex mystery thriller stars Theresa Russell as a neurotic young American enjoying a crazed, stormy and intensely sexual relationship with an American psychology professor (Art Garfunkel) in Vienna.

Harvey Keitel also stars as Inspector Netusil, the local police detective who suspects foul play by the lover, when the young woman is rushed to hospital after overdosing on pills, apparently in a suicide attempt.

Certainly the film is confidently told in flashbacks in director Roeg’s typical eye-catching style. And it is equally certain that it couldn’t have been made like this – if at all – by anyone else. So it has its admirers as smart neo-film noir. And no-one can complain about Russell’s striking performance.

However, neither Garfunkel nor Keitel really seem to have a handle on it, despite their ideal-fit casting, and screen-writer Yale Udoff’s story doesn’t motor it along dynamically, as it vacillates from psychological drama to thriller. Yet Roeg’s direction and editing, cinematographer Anthony Richmond’s visuals and Richard Hartley’s soundtrack are masterly.

Impressive though some aspects of the film are, it’s a very alienating experience. On its original release, it was infamous for being able to empty a thinly populated London cinema long before the end.

Also in the cast are Denholm Elliott, Daniel Massey, Dana Gillespie, William Hootkins and Eugene Lipinski.

In Ireland, the sex scenes were heavily cut by the censor. 

This is the first of three collaborations between Roeg and producer Jeremy Thomas, followed by Eureka (1983) and Insignificance (1985).

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2993

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