TAO OF STEVE, THE (director/writer: Jenniphr Goodman; screenwriters: Duncan North/Greer Goodman; cinematographer: Teodoro Maniaci; editor: Sarah Gartner; cast: Donal Logue (Dex), Greer Goodman (Syd), Kimo Wills (Dave), Ayelet Kaznelson (Beth), David Aaron Baker (Rick), John Hines (Ed), Nina Jaroslaw (Maggie); Runtime: 87; A Good Machine production in association with Thunderhead Prods; 2000)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
"The Tao of Steve" is a likable romantic comedy about an obese comman man type who happens to have the extraordinary ability to be a successful seducer of women despite his unappealing looks, convinced he is scoring women because of his philosophy. The philosophy takes something that is Eastern, of being desireless and without attachments, and he adds to it an homage to three famous Steves and their masculine auras: Steve Austin from The Six Million Dollar Man, Steve Garret from Hawaii Five-O, and the late film star Steve McQueen. When the philosophy is working, he has put sex out of his mind and the result is that women end up finding him to be cool, and go to bed with him because of his laidback attitude.
The humble film, producing some earnest chuckles, is Jenniphr Goodman's debut as a director; she wrote the screenplay with her sister Greer Goodman and Duncan North, as Greer also plays the co-star Syd. The film is based on the real life of the obese Duncan, a friend of the director's from where they live in Santa Fe. The film is slightly offbeat, feeling very natural and human, and offering a chance for the characters to be somewhat fleshed out as they intermingle and search for relationships. The film played well and was enjoyable in poking holes at how insincere and ready for a downfall the main character was, but the obvious plot and the predictable way the film was going, defeated its zen-like approach, wanting too much to resolve things by contrivances instead of surrendering to a more natural ending. Yet I enjoyed the film and its loopy moments and thought it did a good job of catching the banter that goes on between the twenty-somethings, struggling to make relationships and fight their fear of loneliness.
Donal Logue is charming as Dex, once a thin ladies' man, being then an arrogant and very smart college student, who now attends his college reunion of ten years and is a very fat, pot-smoking, part-time kindergarten teacher in Santa Fe, N.M., endowed only with his best asset from college: a sense of humor.
At the party, he meets the blonde with a great smile, Syd, who was in his philosophy class but he can't remember her name or that he slept with her. He is attracted to her, willing to throw aside his other conquests, such as the married Beth (Ayelet), to be with her. But she is mad that he didn't even recognize her.
Syd is staying for the summer with their mutual college friends (Nina Jaroslaw & David Aaron Baker), a happily married couple, and will soon be returning to her New York job as a set designer for the opera.
Dex is living in a communal house with some guys, where he is a mentor to the womanless, Gomer Pyle-like Dave (Kimo Wills), laying on him his Tao-Steve philosophy. Dex is seen interacting with his roommates in an engaging way, still acting like he hasn't matured. At work, he is great with the kids, dancing with them, playing games, and giving them a good teaching experience. He also has a loving relationship with his retriever dog Astral.
Philosophy comes out of Dex's mouth with the ease of a braggart. But he has met his match with Syd, as the two discuss Kierkegaard's dark secret nature and compare it with the opera Don Giovanni, which takes on the film's theme and makes way for relating that to the eventual transcendence of Dex. The opera star we are told was a seducer of thousands of women because he was afraid that one woman wouldn't love him.
In his attempt to be with Syd, he fails to fix his motorcycle and thereby manuevers a ride from her to work, giving him a second chance to see if he could win her over again. He also gets invited on a camping trip with her and their mutual friends, even though he hates the outdoor experience. He takes advantage of the camping trip to tell her how much he cares for her, breaking all the rules of his philosophy. But she sees through his myth and is too sharp-witted for him to pull his philosophy ruse off. But their relationship will prosper again, when they both recognize their faults: he's stuck at being a seducer, a slob, lacking drive and ambition, while she seems uptight, unable to loosen up and have fun.
That this film works in the way most romantic Hollywood films work from since when, with its storybook ending intact...did not disturb me to the point of dismissing the film. That the script allowed this unlikely romance to succeed no matter what, never deterred it from being a fun film. The joy is in watching Dex and Syd, in all their reactions and struggles, somehow change and get together. The film reminded me of those old-fashioned Hollywood studio films of the '30s and '40s, only updated to take in the new trends and hip language used by those living in modern times.
REVIEWED ON 10/7/2000 GRADE: B
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
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