What We Do Is Secret
Vitagraph Films | Release Date: August 8, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Film ThreatEric Campos
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. Read full review
80
VarietyPhil Gallo
Actor Shane West and writer-director Rodger Grossman have a clear, unwavering perspective on Crash that should entice curiosity seekers and old punks. Read full review
75
PremierePauline Pechin
The aptly-named Crash is played to a tee by West; in fact, his performance was so believable that he's currently on tour with the reformed Germs as the lead singer. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid Wiegand
Grossman does a workmanlike job with the film, but his direction and script don't really offer any great insight into Darby's tortured soul. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterChris Morris
Ex-Germs infect biopic with punk authenticity Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMichael Ordona
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. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneSid Smith
Like so many earlier movie biographies, Secret suffers from bathetic storytelling and dialogue, some of it laughable. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
What's lacking is a feeling for the heat and deafening chaos of actual club shows. The movie hangs back a little, folds its arms and nods its head, rather than rushing the stage or diving into the mosh pit. The tumult is depicted, not captured. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
One for the fans, even though writer-director Rodger Grossman and co-writer Michelle Baer Ghaffari labor mightily to spin it into something larger. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
The movie is exciting at times, moving at times, and watchable throughout, but fans of The Germs and L.A. punk may start to pine for what's missing around the time Michele Hicks shows up. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
This isn't a boring movie or a dishonest one. But it's a relentlessly literal-minded one, light on vision and atmosphere, that moves through the history of the Germs with a checklist. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
The movie offers too little of Crash's justly revered lyricism and too much of his self-mutilation and manufactured chaos. Read full review
50
New York PostLinda Stasi
An unsatisfying biopic. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Shane West does a pretty impressive impersonation of the on-stage antics of Darby Crash...Unfortunately, little else in this clunky, half-baked biopic rings very true. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Entertaining if superficial. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Despite a terrific performance from Shane West, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Crash, Secret is a chronology, not a biopic. Read full review
50
Washington PostPhilip Kennicott
You are left with the feeling that either Grossman hasn't done justice to the Germs or the justice they deserved was to spend eternity as a historical footnote. Read full review
20
Village VoiceNick Pinkerton
The worst kind of bastard adaptation, Secret subtracts without adding. Read full review
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