Bad Timing

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For the Jim O'Rourke album named after the film see Bad Timing (Jim O'Rourke album)

Bad Timing
DVD cover of Bad Timing featuring Theresa Russell
Directed by	Nicolas Roeg
Produced by	Jeremy Thomas
Written by	Yale Udoff
Starring	Art Garfunkel Theresa Russell Harvey Keitel Denholm Elliott Daniel Massey
Music by	Richard Hartley
Cinematography	Anthony B. Richmond
Editing by	Tony Lawson
Distributed by	Rank Organisation (UK) The Criterion Collection (2005, DVD)
Release date(s)	September 12, 1980 (Toronto Film Festival)
Running time	123 Min Edited Version 129 Min Uncut Version
Language	English
IMDb profile

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Bad Timing is a 1980 film directed by Nicolas Roeg.

In Vienna, a young American woman in her twenties (Russell) is rushed to the emergency room after apparently overdosing. With her is an Alex Linden, a American psychiatrist (Garfunkel) teaching in Vienna. Through a series of fragment flashbacks the film tells the story of their romance which ends up becoming a sexual obsession. The woman, Milena, suffers from depression and is still married to a much older man (Elliot) whom she crosses the border to see at times. Linden at first likes her free spirited ways then grows tired of her lifestyle which includes relationships with other men and heavy drinking. He spies on the woman and eventually tries to control her. At the hospital, an investigator realizes that there may be more to the case than a simple suicide. He investigates and tries to get Linden to confess to possible crimes involved with the case.

1 Critical reaction
2 Trivia
3 Featured cast
4 External links

[edit] Critical reaction

The film received mixed reviews. Some found the film brilliant while others, possibly put off by the rape near the end intercut with graphic emergency room footage, found the film tasteless. It's UK distributor, Rank, were appalled by what they saw, one executive calling it "a sick film made by sick people for sick people." In response, they removed the Rank logo from all UK prints of the film. The film, since its release as part of the Criterion Collection in 2005, has received almost universally positive reviews.

The film received the People's Choice Award at the 1980 Toronto Film Festival which is the festival's highest honor.

[edit] Trivia

Russell, 22 at the time, went on to marry director Roeg and have two children together.
According to the DVD documentaries included in the Criterion release, the film wasn't released for years on home video because of complications with the soundtrack rights which includes music from Tom Waits, Keith Jarrett, Billie Holiday, and The Who.
The film also featured Pachelbel's Canon.