This powerful and mesmerising biopic centred around the life and times, and general demise and downward spiral of The Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his drug addicted American girlfriend Nancy Spungen is nothing short of harrowing and moving in equal measure. This is mainly thanks in part to both the directorial eye of Alex Cox, but mainly the performances of the two leads Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb. Oldman portrays Vicious as he apparently really was, a stroppy, moody young man who was easily led, as is portrayed in the movie. Chloe Webb is equally as good, portraying Nancy as a volatile and often loose cannon on even more of a self destructive mission than her lover. According to former members of the Pistols she was the defining influence on Sid and was said to have introduced him to the class A drugs that eventually would lead to his death. This film is accurate to the times and events, and the scenes depicted here are based upon true memoirs. Sid and Nancy is primarily the story about the couple, with the Sex Pistols playing more of a sub story, although that's not to say that it doesn't show the events surrounding the band as well. There are excellent supporting performances, in particular from Andrew Schofield as lead singer Johnny Rotten, sneering out the words to 'Anarchy in the U.K', and a very accurate scene along the Thames where the band performed 'God Save The Queen'. A particular highlight is Sid Vicious's bizarre rendition of Frank Sinatra's 'My Way', performed almost identically by Gary Oldman to that of the real video. Overall a very good film that will definitely leave an unusual taste in the mouth after watching.
Review of Sid and Nancy
