During the fall of 1978 in New York City, in the six weeks or so that British punker Sid Vicious and American girlfriend-turned-manager Nancy Spungen lived in the Chelsea Hotel after leaving England, nothing much happened. They had to switch rooms one time because of a smoldering mattress; they went on the Methadone program because they were addicted to heroin; they did drugs; Nancy might have made some extra money by dancing topless in Times Square; either Sid or Nancy bought a hunting knife; the couple partied until late in the night with a succession of friends, would-be friends and hangers-on; and Nancy got Sid one important booking, playing with musician friends at Max's Kansas City. At the end of the six weeks, Spungen was dead from a stab wound and nobody knew if a) Sid killed Nancy and didn't remember doing it; b) Sid killed Nancy as part of a suicide pact but couldn't go through with his end of it; or c) Sid was passed out when a drug dealer/friend/thief broke into their room and stabbed Nancy in a confrontation. Director Danny Garcia's documentary on those six weeks takes us into the Hotel Chelsea and gives us an idea of what life was like there in 1978. Garcia includes interviews with some of the personalities who were around at the time, and fills us in on the background of his deceased star-couple. But he can't offer us much more than that because there isn't much material here to document. Anyone who has followed this story already knows the alternative theories as to Spungen's murder, which are usually bandied about by Sid's friends who don't want his legacy to be sullied. I'm always amazed at how nobody considers the victim in this scenario. Telling us Spungen was suicidal, had a high IQ and was a handful as a child doesn't cut it. Nancy was a daughter and a sister and had quite a colorful life before she ever met Sid Vicious. But that's a documentary for another day. ** from ****
