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Sid and Nancy (1986)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
7 November 1986 (USA) moreTagline:
Love killsPlot:
Morbid biographical story of Sid Vicious, bassist with British punk group the Sex Pistols, and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen... more | full synopsisAwards:
Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 wins moreUser Comments:
never mind moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Gary Oldman | ... | Sid Vicious | |
| Chloe Webb | ... | Nancy Spungen | |
| David Hayman | ... | Malcolm | |
| Debby Bishop | ... | Phoebe | |
| Andrew Schofield | ... | John | |
| Xander Berkeley | ... | Bowery Snax | |
| Perry Benson | ... | Paul | |
| Tony London | ... | Steve | |
| Sandy Baron | ... | Hotelier - U.S.A. | |
| Sy Richardson | ... | Methadone Caseworker | |
| Edward Tudor-Pole | ... | Hotelier - U.K. | |
| Biff Yeager | ... | Detective | |
| Courtney Love | ... | Gretchen | |
| Rusty Blitz | ... | Reporter | |
| John Spaceley | ... | Chelsea Resident |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
112 min | Australia:110 minCountry:
UKLanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
DolbyCertification:
Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Canada:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec)Filming Locations:
Chelsea Hotel - 222 West 23rd Street, Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA moreFun Stuff
Trivia:
Sid's mother Anne Beverly initially tried to prevent the movie from being made but after meeting with Alex Cox she decided to help the production. moreGoofs:
Audio/visual unsynchronized: When the Sex Pistols are playing live in the boat you can clearly hear a bass guitar, but Sid is in the toilet getting it on with Nancy. moreSoundtrack:
Glued Up and Speeding moreFAQ
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This is a film made by someone who clearly has no love for the Sex Pistols or even any real knowledge of them. Research for this project appears to have been conducted purely through reference to the tabloid presses' depiction of the band and who wants to see that? John Lydon, a man who wrote God Save The Queen among other things (a lyric surely comparable with anything by Lennon or Dylan) is portrayed as a talentless thug. Steve Jones, an amusing and engaging bloke on anyone's terms, seen here is nothing but a borderline psychopath. Gary Oldman, good actor that he is, does his best impersonation of Sid's lugubrious, cockney drawl but he's a little too healthy looking, in truth.
Even as a depiction of 1977, the film fails to convince. The Sex Pistols play to a room exclusively full of "punks" who resemble American punks contemporary to when the film was made, i.e. leather jackets and Mohicans. Check out archive footage of the Pistols and it didn't happen that way. The majority of the audience still had long hair and flares. Even some of the punk bands had members who weren't particularly punk. Spiky hair and ripped t-shirts were seemingly a step too far back then. Most shocking of all, the racial change that the singer of X-Ray Spex undergoes is more startling than Michael Jackson's.
The main problem with the film or any retrospective Rock n Roll film is the music. Actors - or hired session men - can never hope to emulate the voices/ presence/ energy of the original band. (Do you think the Beatles would ever have made it if they'd sounded like they did in Backbeat?) Here, the Sex Pistols are portrayed as nothing but a worthless gimmick; a construction of a Svengali manager who took any four hoodlums and placed them in sensational situations. It panders to readers of The Sun and clever people who think they're being fooled if they don't say "Oh yeh nothing but a media gimmick, yeah couldn't really play, yeh" i.e. people who think they're clever but who are, in actual fact, idiots. Avoid.