Movies of the 80's: 'Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession'

Bad Timing is a 1980 psychological drama directed by Nicolas Roeg. The film stars Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell, Harvey Keitel, and Denholm Elliott. It's known for its complex narrative structure and its controversial and explicit portrayal of an obsessive relationship.

The story revolves around an American psychologist, Alex Linden (played by Art Garfunkel), who is living in Cold War-era Vienna. He becomes involved with Milena Flaherty (played by Theresa Russell), a free-spirited and vivacious woman. Their relationship is tumultuous and marked by Alex's obsessive behavior towards Milena.

As the plot unfolds, the film uses a non-linear narrative to explore the dark and destructive elements of their relationship. The story is interspersed with flashbacks and scenes from different points in their relationship, painting a psychological portrait of love, obsession, and emotional turmoil.

Bad Timing was controversial at the time of its release, due to its graphic content and the intense themes it explored. The film received mixed reviews, with some critics praising its daring approach and others criticizing it for the same reasons. Over time, it has gained a more positive reassessment and is often regarded as an important work in Roeg's filmography, noteworthy for its bold style and the performances of its leads.

Here's some positive things critics said about Bad Timing at the time of its release:

Critic James Verniere wrote: : "Theresa Russell is absolutely demonic. Her sexuality is always overwhelming. She is the embodiment of carnality."

The Associated Press wrote: "Nicolas Roeg makes movies the way Picasso painted pictures."

The New York Times wrote "Miss Russell brings to her role a reckless physicality that is overwhelming."

And National Public Radio called it "Uncommonly bold... fascinating... wildly unconventional. Nicolas Roeg's time has come around at last.

That said, the film has not remained as beloved over the years. Modern critics on Rotten Tomatoes have the movie with only a 46% critics score. The film has earned a 6.9 out of 10 rating from users on IMDB.

The casting of musician Art Garfunkel in the Bad Timing was unconventional, particularly given the intense and demanding role of Alex Linden. This choice added an interesting layer to the film, as Garfunkel's performance was both critiqued and praised for bringing a certain detached, intellectual quality to the character, which aligned well with the character's psychological disposition.

Garfunkel's other roles prior to Bad Timing were 1970's Catch 22, 1971's Carnal Knowledge and a 1980 episode of the popular sitcom, Laverne & Shirley. If the casting still doesn't make sense, consider director Nicolas Roeg's previous films to Bad Timing. In 1970, Roeg chose Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger to star in his film Performance. And, in 1976 Roeg directed David Bowie's film debut in The Man Who Fell to Earth. He would go on to work with Pink Floyd's lead singer Roger Waters, directing the music videos for Waters' 1984 solo singles.

Critics loved actress Theresa Russell in Bad Timing but a little known fact is that the role was written for Carrie star Sissy Spacek. Spacek was forced to drop out of the project due to some real life bad timing. Filming on Bad Timing was delayed and Spacek's commitment to her future Oscar winning role in Coal Miner's Daughter. The casting of Theresa Russell was seemingly meant to be as Russell and director Nicolas Roeg fell in love during filming and were married soon after.

Even after being completed, Bad Timing struggled to get into theaters due to it's graphic sexuality. Producers took the film to the Motion Picture Association of America on multiple occasions and kept coming away with an X-Rating. It wasn't until Roeg called upon film critics Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times and TV Guide film critic, Judith Crist to speak to the MPAA on the film's behalf that he finally gave up and released the film unrated, a move that doomed Bad Timing to low box office as mainstream theaters refused to show unrated movies.

Talking to film critics Eleanor Ringel of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, director Nicolas Roeg talked about what Bad Timing was truly about saying of his movies, including Bad Timing:

"They're all really love stories... I think so... some kind of communication with someone you love... the oldest lover's question is 'what are you thinking, darling?' 'why I'm thinking of you darling.' We Never say I'm thinking of divorce or about how plain you are." Roeg continued in this interview talking about how even the most cerebral of human beings, like the psychologist at the center of Bad Timing, Alex Linden, aren't immune from the spontaneous emotion caused by love. "We can't separate spontaneous emotion from the intellect. We can't really control deep, deep private emotions."

Nicolas Roeg in conversation with Eleanor Ringel Atlanta Journal Constitution, November 15th, 1980.

Bad Timing was released in theaters in America on October 10th, 1980.You can hear a shorter but equally entertaining take on Bad Timing on the Movies of the 80s YouTube channel where we're preserving the memories of 1980s movies and uncovering little nuggets of information about movies of the 80s that have been lost to time. Thank you to Newspapers.com, a top flight resource for of the time information on Movies of the 80s. Much of what you read in these articles and hear on the YouTube channel are gleaned from articles available on Newspapers.com.