Bad Timing is a 1980 British psychological drama film directed by Nicolas Roeg and starring Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell, Harvey Keitel and Denholm Elliott.

The plot focuses on an American woman and a psychology professor living in Vienna, and, largely told through nonlinear flashbacks, examines the details of their turbulent relationship as uncovered by a detective investigating her apparent suicide attempt.

In Cold War Vienna, Milena Flaherty, a young American woman in her 20s, is rushed to the emergency room after apparently overdosing in a suicide attempt.

The two begin a whirlwind affair, but shortly into the relationship, Milena is revealed to suffer from severe depression and is married to a much older man, Stefan, whom she occasionally visits across the border in Bratislava.

Though Alex initially enjoys Milena's free-spirited lifestyle, he soon becomes embittered by it, as it includes impulsive promiscuity and heavy drinking.

Despite this, Alex begins researching into Stefan's past, and inquires with local government agencies about how Milena can proceed with a divorce, which she refuses.

Upon arriving in Ouarzazate, Alex suggests that he and Milena return to the United States where he can take a teaching position in New York City, but she insists that they live "in the moment."

Some time later, in New York, Alex sees Milena passing by in front of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel as he enters a taxi.

The film was based on an Italian story by Constanzo Constantini called Ho Tentato Di Vivere.

"[8] The film was one of the series of movies greenlit by Tony Williams at the Rank Organisation, who were increasing their production output.

[10] The role of the inspector was rejected by Albert Finney and Malcolm McDowell was unavailable; Harvey Keitel was cast three days before filming.

"[12] Roeg elaborated, the film "had a curious effect on people - I sort of understood afterwards why it wasn't good for the company.

Funnily enough, while it was being made, someone said to me: 'You know, they're not going to eat this Nic, because you're scratching surfaces that people probably don't want to have exposed.'

"[9] Bad Timing was first shown at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 1980,[13] and premiered in London on 10 April 1980.

At the UK premiere, film critic David Robinson in The Times praised Nicolas Roeg as "a director of panache and individuality, and with an ability to fascinate and compel the attention," and wrote about the unusual editing and the carefully staged scenes: "In other hands all this might only be deception and distraction, but through these fragmented elements Roeg and his ingenious writer Yale Udoff creates a perfectly coherent and intriguing central narrative and relationship.

John Coleman in the New Statesman gave it a very bad review: "[it has] an overall style which plays merry hell with chronology".

[21] The film Bad Timing was also a partial inspiration for The Glove's 1983 album Blue Sunshine, a side project of The Cure's Robert Smith and Siouxsie and the Banshees' Steven Severin.

Due to the notoriety and poor box office results, the film was not initially released on home video in the United States.

However, the television rights were acquired by the Los Angeles-based pay cable network Z Channel and aired in heavy rotation, allowing the film to obtain cult status in the 1980s.