The Tao of Steve

[KLAXXON]

Dex is successful with women despite being overweight. His appeal is being cool which he achieves by a mixture of acting like Steve McQueen and studying Buddhism and Taoism. One day he meets Syd, who is beautiful, but finds his charms not enough...

The big man on campus, only bigger

Directed by Jenniphr Goodman, written by Duncan North with Greer and Jenniphr Goodman, 90 minutes, rated R.

(Originally published 2000)

Overweight male slackers in desperate need of a date should pay attention to Jenniphr Goodman’s “The Tao of Steve,” a romantic comedy that offers three helpful dating rules for those longing to be a chick magnet.

Rule 1: “Eliminate your desires. If you’re out with a girl and you’re thinking about [having sex], you’re finished. A woman can smell an agenda.”

Rule 2: “You have to do something excellent in her presence, therefore proving your sexual worthiness.”

Rule 3: “After you eliminate desire--and after you’ve proved your excellence--you must retreat.”

Armed with these rules, which are a peculiar combination of the philosophies of Lao Tzu, German philosopher Martin Heidegger and comedian Groucho Marx--and which, we’re told, can turn ordinary Joes into charismatic Steve McQueens--one should be as irresistible as our unlikely hero, Dex (Donal Logue), whose large and pendulous belly, intentionally reminiscent of Buddha’s, is the first thing one sees as the film opens.

About that belly--if it isn’t the star of the film, it comes close. Throughout, Goodman keeps her camera trained on it as Dex himself pats and rubs it. It’s meant to be in jarring contrast to what Dex used to be--the big man on campus--and it is, but one also senses that Dex uses it as a device to keep real love at bay, something that’s challenged when he meets and falls hard for Syd (Greer Goodman), a smart, beautiful woman immune to the rules Dex has lived by for years.

Much of the film’s substantial charm comes from Logue, who won a special jury prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival for his performance (initially, he’s like a present-day cherub crossed with a clown). But as the film deepens into its issues of love and honesty, right vs. wrong, the tone changes. These rules, as foolproof as they may be, have serious ramifications

A few years ago, a tongue-in-cheek philosophy book entitled "The Tao of Pooh" found hitherto untapped depths in the children's fiction of AA Milne. Now director Jenniphr Goodman finds similar resonance in the all-American machismo of Steve McQueen in her romantic comedy "The Tao of Steve".

Kindergarten teacher Dex (Donal Logue) was a heart-throb in college, and though he's piled on the pounds since he still has the power to pull any woman who takes his fancy. His secret is "The Tao of Steve", a three-step plan of sexual conquest that emulates such iconic figures as Steve Garrett from "Hawaii Five-O" and Steve Austin from "The Six Million Dollar Man".

The biggest Steve of all, though, is Steve McQueen, and it's his influence which inspires Dex as he sets out to win the heart of Syd (Greer Goodman), a gorgeous free spirit who designs sets for the Sante Fe Opera.

Low-budget indies are two-a-penny these days, but the unlikely premise of Goodman's feature debut - coupled with Logue's scene-stealing performance as the flabby lothario - makes "The Tao of Steve" more entertaining than most.

Unfolding in the unfamiliar surroundings of New Mexico with a cast of relative unknowns, it has novelty and intelligence on its side. After all, when was the last time you saw the works of Lao Tzu and Heidegger feature in a Hollywood movie?

It's also very much a family affair. Greer and Jenniphr are sisters, while the character of Dex was inspired by Jenniphr's flatmate, Duncan North.

You've really got to admire a picture that can incorporate
references to "The Bugaloos," "Hawaii Five-O" and "The Six
Million Dollar Man" on the one hand, and to Soren Kierkegaard,
Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and Elaine Pagel's "The Gnostic
Gospels" on the other, without becoming stilted or precious
in the process. But this debut feature from Jenniphr (no,
that's not a misprint) Goodman manages the trick; though
employing an utterly conventional romantic design, it tweaks
the formula sufficiently, and populates it with enough likably
quirky characters, to come across as charmingly distinctive
rather than tiredly imitative.

Despite its impenetrable title (which, unfortunately, will
probably scare off more viewers than it attracts), and the
fact that the script is actually based on the real-life
experiences of one Duncan North, "The Tao of Steve" is
basically a spiffy modern reworking of the old plot (used, for
instance, in virtually all the Tracy-Hepburn pictures) about
two obviously incompatible people who nevertheless fall in love.
In the present case the guy is a chubby slacker named Dex
(Donal Logue) who, despite the loss of his hunky collegiate
appearance and an unsexy job as a kindergarten teacher, has
been regularly successful with the ladies (he's enjoying, for
instance, an ongoing affair with a friend's wife). While
reluctantly attending a ten-year school reunion, he's smitten
with Syd (Greer Goodman, the director's sister), a musician
and designer for the Santa Fe opera who's staying with some
mutual friends. Before long circumstances throw Dex and
Syd together in a car-pooling scheme, and his pursuit of her
begins. The clever script lets us in on Dex's amatory technique
by having us listen to the advice he offers to sad-sack,
love-starved roommate Dave (Kimo Wills): that's the meaning
of "the tao of Steve," a jokily philosophical concept that
has do do with the "art" of attracting women by being "cool"
(like such hipster Steves as McQueen and Austin)--which means,
in effect, letting girls come to you by not pursuing them too
hard. But Syd proves decidedly resistent to Dex's strategems.
Will he eventually win her over?

To be honest, the answer to that question isn't remotely
difficult for anyone who's seen a movie before; nor is the
reason for Syd's initial antipathy to Dex terribly surprising.
But "The Tao of Steve" works anyway, because the dialogue is
fresh, the central characters articulate and personable, and
the lead performances winning. Donal Logue is especially
fine, gently fashioning a portrait of the shambling, sloppy Dex
which makes him affable rather than annoying, as he
might so easily have become. (Just compare John Belushi's
failed attempt at restraint in the similarly-themed 1981
misfire "Continental Divide" to see how easily such a figure
can slide into crude axaggeration.) Goodman's Syd isn't nearly
as fully realized a creation, but the actress makes her
sufficiently spiky to serve as a good foil for Dex. The
supporting players are at best adequate except for Wills, who's
sure to be an audience favorite as the goofily good-natured
Dave.

One probably shouldn't make too much of "The Tao of Steve"--
it's basically a piece of romantic fluff without any real
depth or poignancy. But at a time when Hollywood's attempts
in the same genre generally prove to be crushingly cutesy
and stale, it's refreshing to find a little picture that can
reinvigorate the formula so agreeably. It may be fluff,
but it's bright, funny fluff.


Donal Logue ... Dex
Ayelet Kaznelson ... Beth
John Hines ... Ed
John Harrington Bland ... Priest
Jessica Gormley ... Gossipy Woman
Mercedes Herrero ... Gossipy Woman
Cheryl Anne Jaroslaw ... Gossipy Woman
Nina Jaroslaw ... Maggie
David Aaron Baker ... Rick
Dana Goodman ... Julie
Greer Goodman ... Syd
Dave Bynum ... Epperley Reunion Band: Bass
Matt Nader ... Epperley Reunion Band: Guitar and Vocals
Dave Terry ... Epperley Reunion Band: Vocls and Guitar
John Truskett ... Epperley Reunion Band: Drums


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