Most relationships in life are complex and the ones we have with the ones we truly love usually explore the deepest depths of this complexity. The harder we fall for someone, the more intense our feelings are, and in turn, the more vulnerable we become. When the cerebral Dr. Alex Linden (Art Garfunkel) falls for the free spirit Milena (Theresa Russell), they mix like oil and water, doomed to a disastrously complex study of love, sex, power and control. If anything, Nicolas Roeg's Bad Timing is the anti-Valentine's film, one that does away with the sickly-sweet Hallmark sentiment of clichéd love, opting instead for a warts-and-all investigation into what horrible things love can make us (even the smartest people) do.
Art Garfunkel does not have a face for the movies, his bozo-like appearance is distracting, but with Garfunkel, Roeg perfectly casts an arrogant, elitist snot who embodies the notion a higher intellect is an excuse for pathological behavior. Dr. Linden might be able to rationalize everything else in his life, but once he's in the grip of love's torturing hands, he's reduced to a jealous, petty, pathetic and dangerous being. Bad Timing is quite possibly the most graphically blunt depiction of the abhorrent behavior love can motivate and throughout the film, Roeg delights in ramming documentary-esque footage of the nasty after-effects of Linden's obsession, all as a way of stating: love is anything but pretty.
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