Film Review: Sid and Nancy (1986)

Film Review: Sid and Nancy (1986) | Ecency

(source: tmdb.org)

It is often said that punk was to rock music what Trump was for global politics – huge middle finger against established order. Whatever you may think of punk music, it was, at least for a brief moment, a movement. And, like any movement it had its leaders and icons. Among the icons, like in so many other chapters of the history of 20th Century music, the most legendary were those dying before their time. One of them is a subject of Sid and Nancy, 1986 British biopic directed by Alex Cox.

The plot begins in New York on October 12th 1978, when police arrest Sid Vicious (played by Gary Oldman), bass guitar player and the biggest punk icon of its time, under suspicion of murdering his girlfriend Nancy Spungen (played by Chloe Webb), who was found with a fatal stab wound in his hotel room. The narrative switches to Britain one year earlier, when Sid Vicious is new bass player in the Sex Pistols, punk band which conquers British airwaves and public with its irreverent attitudes and iconoclastic lyrics. Sid and his friend and bandmate Johnny Rotten (played by Andrew Schofield) meet Nancy Spungen, rock groupie and part-time prostitute. Although their first encounter doesn’t go well due to Nancy conning Sid out of the money in order to buy drugs, they soon fall hopelessly in love with each other. Their relationship is so intense that Sid’s career begins to suffer and he has problems being separated from her during band’s American tour. When Sex Pistols breaks up, Sid rejoins Nancy who would become his unofficial manager. However, as time goes by, their affair begins to increasingly revolve around heroin and two of them begin downward spiral that would lead to inevitable tragedy.

Sid and Nancy is a good film, but it also shows that film doesn’t have to be pleasant to watch in order to be good. For the most part Cox and his co-writer Abbe Wool portray two title character as damaged, often dislikable persons who do bad things to people around them and each other. In many ways Cox presents “live fast and die young” concept of rock stardom in realistic and decidedly un-romantic fashion. In doing so, he receives great help from Gary Oldman, who was at the time of production young actor, known almost exclusively for his work in theatre. Oldman has meticulously prepared for the role, which included talking with Vicious’ mother as well as deliberately starving himself in order to look as emaciated as Vicious did near the end of his life. The result is truly great performance and his portrayal of Sid Vicious is quite different from the roles of psychotic villains that would mark the rest of his career. In this film Oldman plays main character as young and not exactly bright man, who simply can’t handle the aftermath of instant fame and pressure that comes with it. This performance looks even more impressive if we are to take Oldman on his word that he never liked punk music, title character not the film itself.

Oldman’s performance is well-complemented by Chloe Webb, actress who would later become famous for the role of aspiring entertainer Laurette Barber in China Beach. Here she plays rather thankless role of a person many Sex Pistols fans view in the same way Yoko Ono is seen among Beatles fans. She delivers another great performance, finding the perfect balance between Nancy as motherly figure that somehow perfectly complements Sid as man-child, while at the same time being obnoxious to anyone else. Among the rest of the cast there are some notable names, like rock singer Courtney Love in cameo role, but the best job is delivered by Xander Berkeley in the role of a drug dealer who, ironically, appears to be one of the more level-headed characters in the film.

Sid and Nancy was liked by critics, but it had its share of detractors, especially those who complained about cavalier attitude towards certain historical acts. One of the louder among them was John Lydon a.k.a. Johnny Rotten. Some of those complaints are justified, especially near the end when Cox simply refuses to dwell much on the aftermath of Nancy’s murder. The actual finale, which discards naturalistic approach for the sake of romantic fantasy in which doomed lovers take taxi to heaven, is quite disappointing and much at odds with the rest of the film. Yet, despite that Sid and Nancy is a good film that can be enjoyed and appreciated even by those who aren’t big fans of Gary Oldman or punk music.

RATING: 6/10 (++)