I realize, seeing it with adult eyes, why my parents were so shocked I waswatching this film in 1987. But ironically, it was the best anti-drugmessage I could have seen in my teenage years. In performances so masterfulthey make me wince, fight off nausea, and weep for their misfortune, GaryOldman and Chloe Webb constructed characters no one would ever want to be. The supporting cast deserves accolades as well - in particular, AndrewSchofield turns in a seamless portrayal of Johnny Rotten, who, unlike Sid,knows full well Malcolm MacLaren created him.
Having read "And I Don't Want To Live This Life" by Debora Spungen, andhaving seen more than a handful of documentaries with live footage of theband throughout the years, what impressed me most was the consistency oftone that Oldman and Webb bring to their performances. They are spot-on,not just in stupor and excess, but in tenderness and rare moments ofclarity. The movie's ending was unique among biopics where the truth is indispute, in that it did not profess to know the answer to that burningquestion (did Sid kill Nancy?) any more than Sid knew himself.
Why watch a film about a couple of junkies who came from unremarkablebackgrounds and disappeared into the bleakness of drug addiction? We seemto want our films to be about something loftier than ourselves. I view "Sidand Nancy" more as a play than a movie - we allow our plays to be aboutuncomfortable subjects and unhappy people, but seem to think that celluloidmust be as bright as the projector light behind it. This film is a study inlove and dysfunction; its characters are painfully imperfect but perfectlyportrayed and we cannot help but respond, even if our response is the deep,squirming discomfort that leads us to say we disliked the wholeexperience.
I rated this film a very rare 9.
