What We Do Is Secret (2008)

The indie What We Do Is Secret tells the true story of Darby Crash, lead singer of the seminal punk band The Germs. Shane West of ER stars as Crash, painted as writer-director Rodger Grossman as a mad genius of the L.A. music scene. The Germs formed in 1975, when teenager Jan Paul Beahm began speaking of a five year plan to become a legend. Adopting the name Darby Crash, Beahm proved true to his word: The Germs enjoyed a burn-and-crash trajectory that ended for good in 1980, with Crash’s suicide. Grossman tells the story faithfully, and one can be forgiven for thinking of Behind the Music as heroin enters the picture and the in-fighting amongst the band mates begins, developments supplemented with talking-head interviews performed by the actors.

The Germs’ movement from “joke band” to one of the best-remembered progenitors of American punk gets a never-boring treatment, with the band alienating every venue in L.A. by consistently causing riots. Grossman is clearly limited by his budget and a dearth of visual ingenuity (exception: an emblematic series of shots depicting Crash punching out an overhead mirror during a set). And though the film doesn’t hide Crash’s homosexuality by any means, the sex remains off camera: West and Ashton Holmes (as Crash’s boyfriend) exchange smoldering glances but not so much as a screen kiss. What We Do Is Secret lacks the element of surprise, but it’s a lovingly told, fast-paced musical biopic that should please Germs fans and make a few more.