Review of Sid and Nancy (1986) by Anton C — 05 Jul 2008

Alex Cox's Sid and Nancy is a hard film to pin down. The character of Nancy is absolutely detestable, and Sid tends to become a pain in the ass. Likewise, a film about two heroine addicts who ultimately destroy each other is hardly ever uplifting. But there is a lot to be gained from Cox's metaphors, and the way he chooses to deal with certain aspects of Sid and Nancy's relationship is at times quite beautiful. It's these two points that make the film so difficult to judge.

While there is a lot about this film to rank it quite high, the elements of it that are worth hating can almost completely overshadow the rest of the film's excellence. More specifically, Nancy (one of the title characters no less!) almost ruins the film. Her unrelenting selfishness, non-stop crying and extremely irritating squealing brought me close to turning the film off numerous times (the only thing stopping me from doing so was the knowledge that she'd die soon enough).

To add more confusion to judgment of this film, Nancy's behaviour was intentional; chosen by Cox. Therefore, the director wanted me to hate Nancy, like other characters did in the film. As such, hating Nancy couldn't ruin the experience; because that was the experience I was supposed to have. Anyway, I think I've proven why the film is hard to pin down.

In all, Sid and Nancy is worth a watch. Cox takes and interesting subject matter and turns it into his own vision.