(Peace Arch Home Entertainment, 110 MINUTES)

www.peacearch.com

What We Do Is Secret was controversial even before it was finished: Fat Mike of NOFX and erstwhile Dead Kennedy Jello Biafra complained publicly about the film, Shane West's (E.R., Once and Again) portrayal of Crash and the actor's "reunion" tour with the remaining Germs. Apparently they believe that no actor is fit to play their holy martyr Darby, that perhaps the Germs' story is a sacred cow and to make a movie about them is blasphemy. If they'd sit down, shut their fuckin' traps and actually watch the film, they would see that West isn't impersonating Crash, but channeling him.

The film is faux documentary, with interviews with "band members" Crash (Shane West), Pat Smear (Rick Gonzalez), Lorna Doom (Bijou Phillips) and Don Bolles (Noah Segan) shot guerilla-style on a shoestring budget. The skimpy purse is what director Rodger Grossman needed to give Secret authenticity and urgency, plus a pace that matches Darby's "Five-Year Plan," which was: 1. Start a band. 2. Learn instruments. 3. Cut a record. 4. Get famous. 5. Kill myself.

Nearly every actor in this group is stellar. Rick Gonzalez's portrayal of guitarist Pat Smear is equally as whip-smart as West's Crash. Rick plays Pat as the sometimes quiet, occasionally volatile musician that the world would later come to know through his stints as second guitarist in both Nirvana and Foo Fighters. Bijou Phillips' Lorna Doom isn't as convincing. Though her performance does have a few bright moments, in the end she's barely a step above window dressing. Noah Segan's Don Bolles, the Germs drummer, is an explosion of energy, vibrating like a speed freak on a week-long bender.

The group was-and is shown to be-by turns awkward (their first ever gig at L.A.'s Orpheum in April ‘77 with Belinda Carlisle on drums) and incendiary (their last show on Dec. 3rd 1980). Crash told the crowd that night that "they should pay attention, they were never going to see this again." He killed himself four days later on December 7, 1980 with a hot shot of heroin in an alleged suicide pact with his friend Casey Cola, but it was one sided-she lived.

Crash's bid for front page notoriety was ruined by the murder of John Lennon the next day. Although, he was relegated to the back pages, Crash's slash on the face of rock history is undeniable. The Germs paved the way for L.A.'s punk scene by pressing the first ever punk single in California, he brought Iggy Pop antics to the coast and David Bowie androgyny (Darby's homosexuality is hinted at in the film but never fully examined) to the hardcore scene. The Germs' mark on punk, like their symbol the circle, is unending. DANNY R. PHILLIPS