So I finally watched Sid & Nancy! Gary Oldman was indeed incredible, but I'd like to make some noise for the brilliant Chloe Webb, whose performance as Nancy Spungen was some Gena Rowlands-level acting.

Anyway, getting on with it...

I'm not sure why any part of me thought I wouldn't like this film. Sid & Nancy was not at all what I expected, but as a huge fan of Repo Man and Walker, it makes so much sense to find this movie in between Alex Cox's lo-fi punk rock gem and his satirical history-drama masterpiece.

For all its grimy and salacious content, Sid & Nancy is incredibly well-made and polished. For all the strange frenzied energy, we find here Alex Cox fully in control of his craft as a skilled, intelligent director and storyteller. I think for some reason or other I might've been expecting something more campy or more like a caricature of a biographical story, but Sid & Nancy really is a sad, dark fairytale of a romantic drama, funneled through the sensibilities of a creative, experimental artist.

In crafting a mature warning against drug abuse and the greedy capitalism of the music industry, Alex Cox managed to take an icon of an era and completely deconstruct the glorified violence and destruction of the Sex Pistols' curated brand of punk rock; instead of giving us the usual romanticized visions of anarchy against the man and lovers on the run from the rest of the world, Sid & Nancy shows us the inner turmoil of a destructive relationship, the follies of consumerist-created celebrities, and the tragic nature of troubled individuals enabling each other to the point of untimely disintegration (physical, emotional, and otherwise).

But Alex Cox makes sure to remind you whose film you're watching. There's enough absurd humor and surreal events to make the viewer double check what they've seen. Eccentric characters abound, while socio-cultural analysis and philosophical waxing is never left behind. The music, the energy, the feeling of the production collide like a bomb of dirty, electrifying fun and utter depravity.

I loved the way Alex Cox examined his protagonists through their interpersonal relationship and complexities, and the movie presents so many fantastic sequences bouncing between head-scratching weirdness, total beauty, and mature human drama. And in the end, I want to say it was that human element that both surprised me most and drew me into the story of Sid & Nancy. When the characters were down, I was down with them. When they were heated up, I was right there on the edge of my seat. When they were tearing each other and themselves apart, I almost couldn't bare to watch.

I know this movie wasn't the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but as a piece of cinematic art, it succeeds on many levels. Sid & Nancy is an unconventional movie that surely won't speak to everyone, but for those who can get on Alex Cox's wavelength, it should prove to be a unique and provocative experience. At least, it did for me.