Sad Vacation (2016)

Sad Vacation: Directed by Danny Garcia. With Rachel Amodeo, Roberta Bayley, Den Browne, Leee Black Childers. A new documentary about the painful and poignant final days of the tragic couple Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen

“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 Maxu0026#39;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 didnu0026#39;t remember doing it; b) Sid killed Nancy as part of a suicide pact but couldnu0026#39;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 Garciau0026#39;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 canu0026#39;t offer us much more than that because there isnu0026#39;t much material here to document. Anyone who has followed this story already knows the alternative theories as to Spungenu0026#39;s murder, which are usually bandied about by Sidu0026#39;s friends who donu0026#39;t want his legacy to be sullied. Iu0026#39;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 doesnu0026#39;t cut it. Nancy was a daughter and a sister and had quite a colorful life before she ever met Sid Vicious. But thatu0026#39;s a documentary for another day. ** from ****”