Jan Paul Beahm changed his name to Darby Crash, started a band called The Germs, and committed suicide by heroin overdose on December 7, 1980, as his five-year plan for fame specified. Did he predict a bland biopic too? Writer-director Rodger Grossman relates Crash’s career with insight-free sympathy for this minor punk legend who read Nietzsche and coined non-sequiturs such as “six million Jews can’t be wrong.” Crash (Shane West) comes off as a narcissist and asshole. Here his talent seems limited to abusing the teen losers he somehow charmed into his circle. Grossman’s insular focus supplies little curiosity about subcultural context. Onscreen dates for L.A. gigs, often unplugged due to mayhem, and fake interviews lend a documentary aura, which almost gets interesting when Penelope Spheeris (Michele Hicks) shows up to shoot her punk documentary “The Decline of Western Civilization.” With Bijou Phillips, Noah Segan, Rick Gonzalez and Ashton Holmes. 92m. (Bill Stamets)
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