WHAT WE DO IS SECRET
By: Red Vaughn
What We Do Is Secret may cause you to think, “I wonder if heroin will kill the germs on my kitchen counter as effectively as it killed Darby Crash?” That it the singer of the Germs is compelling—just as overdose stories always are. What this film probably won’t make you think is, “Darby Crash was a genius!” no matter how hard it wants you to believe it. In a classic example of telling, not showing, Secret uses a faux-documentary style to tell us about the rise and fall of late ’70s punk band The Germs and gives us talking head moments from Crash (played so well by Shane West that the surviving Germs took him on their reunion tour as their singer and Crash substitute) and others who would love to convince us of the young punk’s philosophical leanings. Armed with a “five-year plan” Crash set out to dominate the world by forming a band (musical ability not required) in the early LA punk scene, and then cement his legend by committing suicide. (Leave it to Mark David Chapman to rape this legacy by killing John Lennon the day after—oops.) The Germs, like plenty of other underground punkers, did manage to gather a cult-like following, but this 15-year labor of love from director Rodger Grossman fails to convey just what’s so mesmerizing about Crash and/or the LA punk scene (although to its credit, it does make you curious to find out). Unlike Control, a more effective film about the suicidal front man of Joy Division, Secret just doesn’t show you what it really was like to be there (even with a garbled representation of Brendan Mullen) . . . and despite all the talking, Crash comes off less like an icon and than just another messed-up kid starved for affection. (Red Vaughn)
Peace Arch Entertainment and Rhino Films, 92 minutes
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