It’s almost impossible now to watch Oldman’s Sid Vicious without some awareness of his resume, because all these characters have something in common: They’re all extreme in some way, even if whatever’s extreme about them is kept tightly coiled up inside. You don’t cast Gary Oldman to play someone ordinary. You cast him when you want an actor who can reach places (or at least suggest them) where normal people don’t go.
Some films tend to glorify rock and roll by showing off its glamorous side full of adventure and wonder. Sid and Nancy does no such thing. Instead it exposes the dirty, grimy, seedy underbelly of punk rock, which is full of violence and drugs. The film chronicles Sid Vicious’s life from when he meets his junky girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, to the tragic demise of that relationship. It is a loud, mean, ugly, and crass film that perfectly captures all that the Sex Pistols stood for… anarchy. Filled with all sorts of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, Sid and Nancy is a seriously wild ride.
Although Oldman and Webb are very good in their roles, ultimately the film suffers from the fact that neither Sid Vicious nor Nancy Spungen was especially sympathetic figures. Frankly, they were a pair of idiot junkies whom even their own entourage couldn’t stand. There was nothing tragic about what happened to them; they simply self-destructed.
The real treat here is the director’s several brilliant sequences that any movie fan should appreciate. The first occurs halfway through the film and is based on Sid’s video of the Sinatra classic “My Way”. The audio and video quality really shines in places like this. Unfortunately this release lacks in the special feature department –
- For the Love of Punk: Meh, a weak little feature.
- Junk Love: A little feature about the real Sid & Nancy’s relationship. It was actually quite interesting.
- Theatrical Trailer
The movie is entertaining, but in portraying the waste that was Sid and Nancy, but it can get boring in spots. Otherwise, for those of you that weren’t there when the whole punk thing first hit, this movie gives some idea of what it was like, at least from a spectator viewpoint. The performances are great the movie kind of suffers from time to time in the pacing department.
Sid & Nancy (Collector’s Edition) 
Overall: 3 verses of “I want a job” out of 5
Review by Bro “B” – Ben
We received product for our review. All opinions are our own
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