Without being a masterpiece this is a surprisingly good film in its genre, and one of the first taking into account that it was made in 1980 and it may be considered one of the fist erotic thrillers. The story of an attempted suicide of a woman (Theresa Russell) and the following investigation where his boyfriend (Art Garfunkel) faces the suspicion of an obsessed detective (Harvey Keitel) is set in a Vienna filmed with taste and style and told in a non-chronological manner that builds the story in an a series of interleaved present and flashback scenes. The best parts of the movie are these where the actors are left to rather freely build the relationship of lust and mis-communication between Russell and Garfunkel, and the suspicion mind-game between Garfunkel and Keitel. Less convincing is the plot itself, it looks like after setting the story and putting the characters in motion the director and script writer did not really know how to end it at the level of interest they succeeded to build. Garfunkel itself in the middle of the story looks a little uncertain, this is by far his most important role on screen but his lack of confidence fits well a character who is supposed to look like he cannot make his mind in a relationship. Although this film came a little too early it set the rules and establish the ground for a niche genre that has developed a few years after it, and despite the aging of some gadgets and equipment and the intense smoking that looks now so outdated :-) by its characters it does not look too tired or rusty, quite the opposite. Actually if I am to compare it with Basic Instinct (certainly with the second one, but maybe also with the first) Bad Timing is a better movie.
Review of Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession
