37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
NOT the Germs, October 27, 2008
If this movie has actually helped some people discover the Germs and the old school punk scene, then I guess that's a good thing.
BUT...
This movie has nothing to do with reality. Far from a realistic portrait, this film presents Darby Crash as a nice, but misunderstood kid who could just as easily have been a supporting character on "Dawson's Creek" and makes the L.A. punk scene look like an episode of "90210."
Read "Lexicon Devil" or watch "Decline of Western Civilization" as a contrast. Or just listen to the Germs. Just Darby's lyrics on their own illustrate the yawning chasm between who he really was and who Roger Grossman and Shane West make him out to have been. Even Don Bolles has dismissed the movie as worthless in interviews.
Brilliant, whiny, pathetic, cruel, insecure, domineering, self-destructive, confused, deceitful and very, very sad, Darby Crash was a profoundly flawed and often unpleasant screwed up kid who also happened to write some of the best punk rock lyrics ever produced for one of the scene's most influential bands.
Grossman and West manage to gloss over everything that was difficult, disturbing and most importantly, tragic about Darby. And in their attempt to lionize him, they paint a bland and sterile picture of an average adolescent who seems like he'd be more comfortable singing for Fallout Boy than the Germs.
As I'm no stickler for obsessive historical accuracy, all of this could maybe - MAYBE - be forgivable if the movie were well-made or had something important to say. But no. It's just an oversimplified whitewash of one of the most complex, orginal and influential artists the punk scene has produced.
If you want a great fictional movie about early punk, skip this trash and go watch "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains." In it's way, that movie says more about old school punk rock than this film ever could.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I'm Not a Commodity (or maybe I am), December 5, 2008
I liked punk back in the late 1970's but since I didn't live in LA I never had the chance to actually see a live Germs show. I have seen The Decline of Western Civilization as well as plenty of other Germ performances on video which of course isn't quite the same thing as seeing a live Germs show but its probably as close as most of us will come to seeing and feeling what punk in all of its filth and fury was all about.
The godfathers of punk were Lou Reed and David Bowie and Iggy Pop. LA punk was a fusion of these artist's attitudes and styles. It may seem to all have happened spontaneously but of course it was supposed to seem that way. In actuality punk was just as theatrical as a Lou Reed or David Bowie show. Reed and Bowie shows provided a venue for self-expression and punk shows were the same way. For most punks it was just plain fun to dress up in outrageous costumes and play or attend gigs. But for the hardcore punks like Darby Crash it was more than just dressing up and having a larf.
Whats sad is that Darby Crash was very funny in real life but had very little sense of humor when it came to performing. For Crash performance was a kind of validation and crowd approval was something that he couldn't live without. Unfortunately Crash made his reputation with destructive behavior and the crowd wanted to see destruction every night. And Crash aimed to please.
This film is very good at making the punk scene look like fun. It cleverly casts a very likable actor to play Darby Crash (Shane West looks like Ewan MacGregor) and equally likable actors to play band members (Bijou Phillips is especially enjoyable as the high-spirited and quirky gum smacking "Lorna Doom"). And most of the film really just feels like a bunch of kids having a good time playing music and creating good punk theatre. And I think for many this is enough to make the film worth their while. However, the film is less successful when addressing the specifics of Crash's motivations, ambitions, his ambiguous sexuality, and his lyrics. Though enjoyable the movie just kind of glosses over these substantive issues and so the ending comes as just as much of a shock to us (even though we know its coming) as it does to fellow band members.
If you don't expect it to be a genuine punk artifact (which it isn't) you might be entertained.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Out of my element, December 16, 2008
As a 63 year old grandmother, who is as far removed from the punk music scene as you could possibly get, this was difficult to watch...but I did. I believe that you can't dismiss things that you don't care for unless you try to understand what they are about. I hope that the movie was fairly accurate because it explains why someone might create music with so much "hurt" in it. I gave it three stars because that is a neutral number and although the material was one star for me it did a five star job at showing the gritty, difficult, unhappy lives that the band members lived.
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