Some of the supporting performances, like those of Phillips and Gonzalez, are very strong, but it's West who lifts the entire film to a whole other level.
Comment
08/29/08
What We Do Is Secret (2008)
45 %
Reviews Counted: 33 Fresh: 15 Rotten:18 Average Rating: 5.2/10
Consensus:
Despite its dynamic subject and reckless anti-glamor, this biopic about the legendary punk rocker Darby Crash fails to translate the excitement its subject generated.
Theatrical Release: Aug 8, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: Filmmaker Rodger Grossman’s decade of research led to this gem of movie which looks at the seminal band from the late 70’s LA punk rock scene, the Germs, and their enigmatic lead singer, Darby Crash. Shane West (‘ER’) stars as Darby Crash, and Bijou Phillips and Rick Gonzalez play his bandmates... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Shane West, Bijou Phillips, Rick Gonzalez, Noah Segan, Ashton Holmes
Reviews
It's a shame to see such vibrant material treated in such a routine, nostalgic manner, but the energy of the material and especially of the Germs music occasionally rescues the movie from its unimpressive, superficial stretches.
08/28/08
Despite a terrific performance from Shane West, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Crash, Secret is a chronology, not a biopic.
08/28/08
First-time writer-director Rodger Grossman bangs out a visceral, energized biopic that captures the vibrant idiocy of punked-out youth and a tortured soul gaining his wish of cult status.
08/22/08
Top Critic
A labor of love for writer-director Rodger Grossman, this entertaining if superficial biopic chronicles the rise and fall of LA punk pioneers the Germs.
08/21/08
In the end, if you weren't already a believer, you're not going to leave with any kind of appreciation for the band's art.
08/19/08
Where What We Do Is Secret succeeds is in the performances which (and this a compliment, I think) sometimes expose a stilted, amateurish strain that's oddly in tune with the characters' D.I.Y. aesthetic.
08/15/08
Top Critic
The best parts of Secret recall Sid and Nancy. The worst evoke the last, inferior A Star Is Born.
08/15/08
West does an earnest job, but that's the problem: He never conjures Crash's psychotic danger. Neither does this eager, flawed, scrappy biopic.
08/11/08
The hyperactive emotional landscape begs for psychological insights and cultural revelations that were tied to that historical musical moment.
08/11/08
How ironic that a biopic about charismatic punk legend Darby Crash -- lead singer of the Germs in the late '70s -- would be so unmemorably bland.
08/08/08
An unsatisfying biopic of the Germs, the seminal LA punkers led by Darby Crash.
08/08/08
For all the explanation, the main problem with What We Do Is Secret is that [director] Grossman fails to adequately convey why The Germs mattered so much.
08/08/08
The reasons behind Crash's death might be the most relevant lesson to be learned from the Germs story, and one can only dream of what a filmmaker like Gus Van Sant might have made from the material.
08/08/08
A low-budget but stylish recreation of the brief life and times of a pioneering LA punk band, What We Do Is Secret is fast and funny enough to make you overlook the fact that you've seen variants of this story before.
08/08/08
A thinly dramatized slice of music history better suited for broadcast on an MTV offshoot than cinematic release.
08/08/08
A classic example of a biopic not understanding why its subject matters.
08/08/08
Feels distressingly familiar and never quite manages to elevate the material with the sufficient drama to make it of interest to those not already passionate about the subject matter.
08/08/08
Top CriticRelated Forums
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by: georgieramone 8/6
by: georgieramone 8/6
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