What We Do Is Secret (film)

2007 American biographical film

What We Do Is Secret is a 2007 American biographical film about Darby Crash, singer of the late 1970s Los Angeles punk rock band the Germs. It was directed by Rodger Grossman, who wrote the screenplay based on a story he had written with Michelle Baer Ghaffari, a friend of Crash's and co producer of the film. Shane West stars as Crash, while Rick Gonzalez, Bijou Phillips, and Noah Segan respectively portray Germs members Pat Smear, Lorna Doom, and Don Bolles. The film follows the formation and career of the Germs, focusing on Crash's mysterious "five year plan", his homosexual relationship with Rob Henley (played by Ashton Holmes), and his experimentation with heroin, culminating in his December 1980 suicide. It is titled after the first track on the Germs' 1979 album (GI). The film was in development for almost nine years due to changes in production staff and adjustments in casting. Grossman conducted numerous interviews as research, and cast West, who he felt "did a masterful job capturing Crash on film." What We Do Is Secret was independently produced and financed, and premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 23, 2007. It was distributed theatrically and on video by Peace Arch Entertainment beginning in August 2008. It was not financially successful and received mixed reviews, though West received praise for his performance and ability to emulate Crash's behavior and mannerisms. Production of the film led Smear, Doom, and Bolles to reunite as the Germs with West on vocals; this lineup performed sporadically for several years and appears on the film's soundtrack.

Jan Paul Beahm grows up in Los Angeles through a troubled childhood: He does not know his biological father, his mother is an alcoholic, and his older brother dies from a heroin overdose. An avid reader, he develops into a "frighteningly intelligent" student at University High School, where his antisocial behavior leads the administration to give him straight A's if he agrees not to return. In December 1975, at age 17, he proposes to his friend Georg Ruthenberg that they start a band, showing him potential lyrics and claiming to have a "five year plan" inspired by the David Bowie song "Five Years". They con money for instruments, and a lineup coalesces with Jan Paul on vocals, Georg on guitar, Terri Ryan on bass guitar, and Becky Barton on drums. Jan Paul comes up with the band name Germs, representing the germination of an idea. The Germs play their first gig in April 1977: As they are heckling the Damned outside the Whisky a Go Go, Claude "Kickboy Face" Bessy of Slash magazine suggests that they perform at an open mic across the street. They give an impromptu performance of their song "Sex Boy", but do not know how to play their instruments and are heckled by the audience. Jan Paul responds by throwing flour at them and dipping the microphone in peanut butter; the band is thrown out but excited by the experience. Jan Paul comes up with pseudonyms for the members: Georg becomes Pat Smear, Terri becomes Lorna Doom, and Becky becomes Donna Rhia. Jan Paul renames himself Bobby Pyn, but soon changes this to Darby Crash. Becky is soon kicked out and the band goes through a series of replacements. Chris Ashford becomes their manager and presses their "Forming" single, the first punk rock single from Los Angeles. At the Masque the Germs meet Don Bolles, who becomes their new drummer. Darby also meets Rob Henley, and the two begin a homosexual relationship. Darby comes up with the Germs' logo, a blue circle, as well as the "Germs burn", a symbolic circular cigarette burn on the wrist. The Germs build an audience at the Masque and advance to larger venues, playing a chaotic show at the Roosevelt Hotel on Halloween 1978. Rob vies with Don for Darby's approval, and he and Darby begin experimenting with heroin. The Germs appear on Rodney Bingenheimer's radio program and convince Slash to fund their album, (GI). Tensions rise as Rob convinces Darby that Don's drumming is not fast enough, and when a woman named Amber begins doting on Darby and declares herself his manager. Darby's heroin use increases, as does violence at the Germs' shows, and they are banned from most clubs in Los Angeles. Darby is upset to learn that Don has started a side project. Penelope Spheeris features the Germs in her film The Decline of Western Civilization. The band plays at the Whisky a Go Go in December 1979 under the name GI, for "Germs Incognito", and when Don is late Darby replaces him with Rob. Rob does not know how to play, however, and the show is aborted when the crowd riots. Finding Rob having sex with a female fan, Darby effectively breaks up the Germs by taking off with Amber to London for several months. Darby returns to Los Angeles with an Adam Ant inspired fashion and a tall mohawk. He enlists Pat for his Darby Crash Band, then organizes a Germs "farewell show" at the Starwood in December 1980 with Pat, Lorna, and Don. The show goes well, with Darby telling the crowd "This is for the people who wanted to know what it was like when we were around. But this is the only one; you're not gonna see this again". Alone and despondent after the show, he enters into a suicide pact with friend Casey Cola: The two intentionally overdose on heroin; Casey survives, Darby does not. Pat receives the news as he is watching reports of the assassination of John Lennon. Darby's funeral is sparsely attended, with Pat reading a poem titled "Astrid" that Darby had written near the band's outset.

Inspired by Penelope Spheeris' The Decline of Western Civilization and the punk rock scene of Los Angeles, AFI Film School graduate and LA native Rodger Grossman, set out to create an authentic story about the formative years of the Germs. Although the Germs project experienced several setbacks and false starts over a nine year period, Grossman stayed committed to the film. Pat Smear (the original guitar player in the band), who ultimately became a member of Nirvana, Foo Fighters and many other bands, was the music producer for the film. With the exception of Phillips, who played guitar (but not bass guitar), and West, who had experience as a singer, none of the other cast members had ever played musical instruments. Intent on making the music in his film sound authentic, Grossman asked Smear to help his actors learn to play their instruments. Smear rehearsed with the band and produced all the pre recordings that were used in the movie, utilizing the other original members of the Germs; Bolles and Doom. The new band of actors slowly came together. Pat Smear said: "These kids will be as good as we were when we were bad which is good enough". Smear went on to affectionately refer to the cast as the "Baby Germs". The music in the film was recorded during pre production, used by the cast as synch tracks during production, and finally married with West's live vocals, which were recorded on set. Pat Smear also produced the recordings of the other bands that perform in the movie—the Mae Shi performed as The Screamers, and The Bronx performed as Black Flag. After a stressful false start in production, the cast and crew held a wrap party to celebrate the un shot film. At the party the actors who portrayed the band (Baby Germs) entertained the crew by playing a few Germs tracks on stage. Then the original Germs, who were in attendance, joined the Baby Germs on stage. The Baby Germs handed their instruments over to the original Germs, who continued to jam with West on vocals. The result was an unexpected Germs reunion with Shane West as front man.

David Arquette was initially considered for the role of Darby Crash, but he moved on to other projects. During the hiatus between seasons of ER, West worked on the film and on getting more financing for it. Grossman cast Bjiou Phillips, who was seventeen years old at the time, to play Lorna Doom. Phillips stayed committed to the project for the entire time it took to bring the film into production. West and the other actors who portrayed the Germs' members trained for three months for the concert scenes with the help of the Germs' real members. On Metacritic it has a weighted score of 54 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Although the film received mixed critical reviews, many critics praised Shane West's performance as Darby Crash, often noting that West bears a strong physical resemblance to Crash. David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle spoke highly of West, writing that even though some of the supporting performances such as those of Bijou Phillips and Rick Gonzalez are very strong, it is Shane West "who lifts the film to a whole other level" as he brings "multiple layers of insight and nuance". Carrie Rickey of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that West had a "terrific performance" and noted he also "bears an uncanny resemblance to Darby Crash." Nora Lee Mandel of Film Forward. com wrote that "West is magnetic trying to fill the gaps in the pop psychology insight into how the Germs' brief candle burned out so fast." John Hartl of the Seattle Times wrote that "While What We Do Is Secret may not be remembered for much more than West's performance, it's an impersonation worth saluting." Phil Gallo of Variety praised both West and Grossman writing they both "have a clear, unwavering perspective on Crash that should entice curiosity seekers and old punks." Pauline Pechin of Premiere thought that West played Darby Crash to a tee and kept on writing in fact, his performance was so believable that he's currently on tour with the reformed Germs as the lead singer. Ken Fink of TV Guide wrote "Shane West does a pretty impressive impersonation of the on stage antics of Darby Crash". Some critics also praised some of the supporting actors' performances as well as the cast performances as a whole. This was seen with Jim Emerson of the Chicago Sun Times review with him writing "Where What We Do Is Secret succeeds is in the performances which sometimes expose a stilted, amateurish strain that's oddly in tune with the characters' D. I. Y. aesthetic." Sara Cardance of New York wrote "The amateur vibe suits the subject matter, and the young cast rises to the challenge." Eric Campos of Film Threat wrote that "These actors and many more make What We Do Is Secret an absolute blast to watch and they do an undeniably perfect job of recreating this notorious scene."

What We Do Is Secret was released on DVD on November 4, 2008.