Bad Timing

Bad Timing

One of the hardest and most difficult puzzles in filmmaking is telling a story in reverse chronological order, and it’s something that Nicolas Roeg fails at in his new movie “Bad Timing.”

This is a bit surprising because Roeg has demonstrated an ability to manage complicated narratives in films like “Don’t Look Now” and “Performance.” However, these movies had reasons for being told out of order particularly “Don’t Look Now,” which dealt with precognition and thus necessarily included events that “happened” before they happened.

With “Bad Timing,” on the other hand, it’s not easy to see why Roeg chose to start at the end and skip around through time. There are no revelations that seem different the second time around, so this feels merely like fancy footwork or showing off for Roeg having done it before and been able to do it again.

Another possible reason behind such complex editing might be that he wants to hide from us how thin his story would be if seen straight through from beginning to end with shallow characters populating its world.

The film tells about two Americans who meet each other in Vienna. Why Vienna? Why not? Art Garfunkel plays a psychoanalyst while Theresa Russell portrays an alcoholic pill addict sexually liberated young woman; but Garfunkel doesn’t view her as sick rather he sees her as an exciting conquest. Though plainly physically and mentally distressed, she is used by him as a pretext for establishing sexual relations with his bewildered patient.

Not that she objects to sleeping with him indeed, she makes the first move at some party but any man who would sleep with such a woman (especially if professionally qualified to understand her condition) should qualify as vermin. Perhaps the analyst doesn’t deserve all the blame: Nothing about this film suggests that Mr. Roeg has any special understanding or insight into what he’s doing when depicting his heroine being so hopelessly ill.

And there may lie this picture’s trouble spots. I think you can only tell this particular story straight through from beginning until its conclusion without honestly confronting relationship dynamics involved between parties concerned because either Mr Roege isn’t capable/unwilling/equipped enough for doing so thus attempts hiding them beneath thickets full of stylistic fireworks surrounding these things instead.

One of Roeg’s favorite editing devices involves repeatedly flashing back to a tracheotomy Russell undergoes after nearly killing herself during another drug overdose episode. The doctors cut open her throat pound on chest scream bleed make great footage for Roege o’cut whenever flick needs jolt emotional otherwise can supply one himself.

There is also a mystery in this picture plus Harvey Keitel playing cop shadowing Garfunkel trying figure out solution thereof which becomes most irritating blunder herein revealed gradually unveiling answer we see various versions Russell overdo then another still revealing bit more until finally find out Garfunkel gasped made love should have called ambulance instead.

The film is depicted as almost a case of necrophilia, but I see it as something that can happen to you when you keep taking chances in singles bars. “Bad Timing” is finally just a sophisticated and complicated way of telling a simple and crude story. Who needs it? This movie has been called honest, but it would have taken a lot more honesty (and courage) to deal with these characters’ personality disorders instead of just burying them under blood and noise.

But if there’s any reason to see this movie, it’s Theresa Russell’s performance (she was Dustin Hoffman’s mistress in “Straight Time”). She is only 22 or 23 years old but gives an astonishingly powerful performance. Let us hope she will be in better movies; she alone among the participants need not be ashamed of this one.

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