Sid and Nancy (1986)

Sid and NancyLike EDM musicians, Hip-Hop artists and Pop vocalists, Punk rockers can make millions without ever knowing how to play a musical instrument.Case in point, the maladroit bassist in this drama.At the height of the Sex Pistols' popularity, crusty punker Sid Vicious (Gary Oldman) is introduced to American groupie Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb). Although he's warned by his band mate Johnny Rotten (Andrew Schofield) and their manager Malcolm McLaren (David Hayman) to steer clear, Sid is drawn to Nancy and her stash of heroin. The volatile union inevitably destroys the band before terminating the star-crossed lovers themselves in true punk fashion.While Oldman's acting début manages to electrify, auteur Alex Cox' 1986 adaptation of the 1978 events marginalizes lead singer Rotten's importance in the band's success, while glamourizing Vicious' drug abuse and his bad musicianship. Incidentally, if drugs didn't kill Sid Vicious, hearing himself in a car commercial would've. Yellow Light

Sid and Nancy is a very silly film that wants to be taken seriously. I'm a huge punk fan and own some of Alex Cox's films. With the exception of Repo Man his films are patchy. Sid and Nancy is no exception, the script is underwritten and nothing more than a patchwork of various events with no real characterisation.Worst is John Lydon played by Drew Schofield who not only looks nothing like him, he manges to imitate some of Lydon's tone, but can't disguise his scouse accent. Lydon might be larger than life, but to portray him as eating baked bean and drinking champagne and laughing at farting negates the fact behind the red hair and eccentricity is an intelligent man. Gary Oldman as Sid Vicious looks the part and captures his penchant for violence and excess, but misses his naivety. Glossing over the fact Nancy Spungen was said to be Sid's first girlfriend. Chloe Webb is pretty good as Spungen, but a really annoying and dislikeable character. David Hayman as Malcolm Mclaren looks the part, but ignores the Svengali aspects of his life and makes him quite an affectionate character.The best thing about the film was the cinematography by Roger Deakins. Best known for working with the Coen Brothers later on. Which considerably raises the production values on what is a grimy and sleazy film.

As far as bio's go this is terrible. Actually I can't say I've seen a watch worthy one - ever! Is it really that hard to have actors portray a real story? Seriously, its a true story and a compelling one! All you have to do is tell it! I like Gary Oldmsn, he's a brilliant actor but seriously stop the over acting. As for Chloe whoever, take some classes in acting. I get that Nancy was overbearing but there are more ways to depict than the obvious. Being loud and American won't cut it! Total waste of time. Oliver Stones - The Doors, even though I watched it countless times when I was 16 probably makes the top bio movie I've ever watched. Peace

I last saw this movie when it came out in the mid-1980s, and as a long-time aficionado of punk rock, one had to say that 'Sid and Nancy' was awful. Irredeemably awful. I saw it again just last night, and it was worse. Over the decades since Sid kicked Nancy's bucket and then his own, several documentaries, unearthed footage and books of reminiscences have strengthened our acquaintance with the 'punk rock' story and its myriad sub-plots. However, as the director and co-writer of 'Sid and Nancy', Alex Cox would have known the entire story back in the early 1980s. He just didn't want to film it. Instead we get a wildly inaccurate phantasmagoria starring two painfully overacting hams who look several years older than the historical characters they are meant to be portraying. The entire English punk scene is pulped down into a bunch of exaggeratedly lurching, moronic and pettily destructive idiots falling over repeatedly and making life difficult for themselves and others. What about the intelligence and originality of the Buzzcocks or the Banshees? What about the Clash's social conscience? What about the Sex Pistols' media-savvy and musical talent? Check 'The Punk Rock Movie'; Sid actually could play, albeit in a basic 'Dee Dee Ramone' manner, and if you'd like to listen to the live bootlegs, they bear little resemblance to the incompetent racket served up by the 'Sex Pistols' in 'S & N'. Moreover, couldn't Cox have staged the 'Pistols' English gigs with an audience who doesn't look like it was straight out of 1984? Check the half-mohawks and the 'positive punk' girls' puffed-up hair. Almost as bad as Spike Lee's 'Summer of Sam'. While we're at it, why are there no swastikas? So what if Alex Cox didn't want them in his precious movie; in 1976-77 they were right there in front of everybody. Again, check the footage. Sid Vicious made the swastika t-shirt an icon; he pretty much lived in one. You might as well try to do a bio-pic about the Grateful Dead and leave out the peace symbol. Look, as you can tell, I could easily spend 10,000 words telling you how insultingly bad, stupid and dishonest this movie is. Maybe one day I will, but suffice to say that with its focus on two of the most obnoxious, universally disliked and talent-free members of the 1970s punk movement it is a totally charm-free excursion into bio-pic territory. It is also intolerably bad history.