Review of Sid and Nancy (1986) by Cameron H — 18 Jul 2013

I don't really know what I was expecting from this film. Grim is probably the best word to describe Sid & Nancy, a brutal biopic of one of the most infamous couples in rock music, Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen.

For those who don't know about Sid Vicious (portrayed here by a young Gary Oldman; no pun intended), he was the bassist for one of the leading punk bands in the U.K., the Sex Pistols. The energy behind all of the actors who play the punk rockers was live and raw, just like punk rock itself. Minus concussions, heroin, and crowd fights, I would have loved to see the Sex Pistols live in concert, based on the obviously inferior, but faithful performances from Andrew Schofield (playing Johnny Rotten) and the rest.

Alex Cox's direction is hard to judge. Attempting to romanticize the relationship between Sid and Nancy while throwing garbage along the way (literally, that happens in one scene), one can only pity the lives of the two as they spiral down into junkie oblivion. Sure, they spiraled down together, but is that really romantic? The title of the film may be a play on the name of the acclaimed Shakespeare tragedy, Romeo & Juliet. If you find Romeo & Juliet to be romantic, when all is said and done, then this would be just as affectionate, if not more as it is set in the twentieth century.

Yet, Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb made the best out of the script. Even on the surface, you think you are watching the real Sid and Nancy play together for the whole movie. They shoot toy guns, share smack, and even jam together. Despite living beyond shitty lives, they did it their way. Why would the two give one crap about what anyone has to say when they love each other? Undoubtedly, Gary Oldman is fanatastic here, portraying the rebelliously lovable nature of Sid Vicious with all love and no boundaries. As a bonus, he even performs "My Way" with an awful, but spot-on-Vicious singing voice.

With that said, the director should have adjusted Nancy's character. Chloe Webb is also good, pouring her whole energy into the dreams and possibilities of Sid Vicious. However, she does it all with that instantly obnoxious New York accent. It is accurate, in relation to Nancy's voice, but also very distracting. The accent alone is not so bad when she speaks, but I partially blame Alex Cox for how she whines half of her lines. Because of her relentless whining, the fantasy strength of the relationship seems ludicrous.

After much contemplation on rounding up my thoughts, I will conclude that the good far outweighs the bad. Alex Cox may have tried a little too hard to bring this much romance between Sid and Nancy, but I see why he used this rock-and-roll famous couple as the basis for the film. The point of watching these two characters spiral down into oblivion together is so you, the audience member, feel that gut feeling of pity and frustration. Near the end of the film, Sid and Nancy are in their apartment, with the electricity out because they never paid the bill. Sid vows to go straight and return to England, and Nancy says that he will never get straight, no matter how many times he says he will. The grim reality of the situation hits right at home. The visceral atmosphere that lurks throughout the whole film, from car smashing to careless dancing to disco music, lightens up the overwhelmingly dark depiction of Sid and Nancy's lives. With all due respect to Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb, and Alex Cox, if it were not for that aforementioned scene in the apartment, the film's appeal would not be as lasting.