Sid & Nancy

Released 1986
Stars Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb, Drew Schofield, David Hayman, Debby Bishop
Directed by Alex Cox

Alex Cox's Sid and Nancy is a terrific movie about two of the most revolting people you're ever likely to find in a mainstream film. It's also a singularly vivid, unromanticized portrait of the junkie lifestyle that discovers enough hellish humor and gutter poetry to suggest why that lifestyle has its attractions. You'd never want to live like this, you'd never want to know these people, but Cox discovers a creepy fascination with this world that holds you for a couple of hours.

Cox began writing the script several years before he directed the 1984 cult hit Repo Man, which eventually gave him the clout to get this film off the ground. It's his attempt to sort out if not explain the story of the punk-rock bank Sex Pistols and their most famous burnout case, Sid Vicious. He died with his American groupie girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, during the group's American tour in the late 1970s. Both were 21.

In a Film Comment interview last month, Cox acknowledged that "there's nothing more boring than two junkies in a room watching telly," yet he went ahead and made the movie because he wanted to deal with the "very strange and insane stuff attendant to being in love that normally doesn't get dealt with in films." Ultimately, what makes the movie so watchable is the fact that it's a unique love story about two selfish, obsessive children who never grew up. They're almost always out of control, and much of their behavior is simply hateful. But the audience is never left in any doubt that in their own infantile way, they truly care about each other.

Summary by John Hartl

Hoo-boy, heroin addicts are a lot of fun, aren't they? It's difficult to comment on a film sixteen years after it was made, because I don't know if this was the first of the strung-out-on-heroin movies. If it was, it's bloody brilliant. The problem is I've seen so many by now that I'm sick to death of them. I HATE DRUGS, and I'm tired of watching movies about junkies! So why did I watch this? I watched it to see the love story between Sid and Nancy, because I wanted to know what these two losers found in each other. I also wanted to get the inside scoop on the Sex Pistols even though I was never a punk fan in the 1980's. I was always a head-banger, but I admired punk's "fuck you" attitude. Heavy metal went corporate and lost that attitude, and punk picked up the torch and ran with it. I admired that, but I hated the music. Then grunge came along and married heavy metal, punk, and pop and created the ultimate music for me--everything I always wanted, but I digress... So I was interested in the story of the Sex Pistols, but I'm sick of the junkie story. I thought Sid was more original than that; I had no idea his story was so pedestrian. I think the film is pretty brilliant in what it does, but I couldn't stand it half-way through. It was sheer torture. From watching the extras on the DVD, I think it's clear that Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb nailed their roles, but I think this material would have worked better as a documentary. I think it could have given us a reprieve when Nancy's screeching became overwhelming, and it could have reduced the amount of junkie-laying-on-a-stained-mattress time. On the plus side, I was thrilled to notice Courtney Love in her first supporting role. It's ironic to see her in this movie, because she lived the life of Nancy Spungen. The difference was she got lucky and didn't die. --Bill Alward, January 21, 2002