New On Netflix: Sid and Nancy

Sid And Nancy

Sid and Nancy, like the Sex Pistols themselves, is angry, dangerous, passionate, messy, migraine-inducing, frustrating and ultimately little more than just sound and fury — in other words, a pretty bloody brilliant depiction and personification of punk rock itself. Gary Oldman is Sid Vicious, the Pistols’ live-wire bassist, and Chloe Webb is Nancy Spungen, a drug-addled Pistols groupie — theirs is a relationship that was doomed from the start, and director Alex Cox (Repo Man) pulls no punches in chronicling their tragic downward spiral into shrieking oblivion. Oldman has often been great, but he’s rarely been better than he is here, and Webb (whom many mistake for Courtney Love, who has a small role in this) is equally good as his sad, shrill soul mate. Sid and Nancy is is no rock ‘n’ roll swindle — this here is real punk cinema.