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"'Steve'
is a State of Mind"
by Scott Mantz
"The Tao of Steve"
Donal Logue, Greer Goodman
Directed by Jenniphr Goodman
"Be cool, be
excellent, and be gone." Those are the eternal words of wisdom from
the all-knowing, all-powerful Dex (Donal Logue), the world-renown
philosopher who single-handedly mastered the art of scoring with
chicks. What's that? "Who's Dex?" Well, if you don't know, then
you're missing out on "The Tao of Steve," one of the sharpest, wittiest,
and most charming movies to come out of the independent film scene
in quite some time.
The saying "never
judge a book by its cover" must have been written with Dex in mind.
Despite his appearance (he's fat), his occupation (he's a part-time
kindergarten teacher), and his lifestyle (he smokes pot before breakfast),
the women of Santa Fe, New Mexico, still find him irresistible.
It all comes down to the art of being cool, or in Dex's own words,
the art of being a "Steve." You know--as in Steve Austin ("The Six
Million Dollar Man"), Steve McGarret ("Hawaii Five-O"), or the Steve-to-end-all-Steves,
Steve McQueen ("The Great Escape"). But Dex's happy-go-lucky lifestyle
is thrown into a tailspin when he meets Syd (Greer Goodman), a motorcycle-riding
drummer who dreams of becoming a stage designer. She doesn't fall
for Dex's pseudo-intellectual crap, and Dex realizes that he's got
a lot of growing up to do if he is ever going to end up with the
woman of his dreams.
If nothing else,
"The Tao of Steve" succeeds as being one of the best date flicks
since 1996's "Swingers" because it takes a humorous look at some
timeless issues. It doesn't matter where you live, whether it's
Los Angeles or Santa Fe, but the older you get, the harder it is
to meet someone you really like. When you finally do meet someone,
you may end up sabotaging the relationship because you don't want
to get hurt. In spite of his active sex life, Dex is unable to maintain
a serious relationship, not because he fears commitment, but because
he fears that women will not love him for who he truly is.
After appearing
as a character actor in a number of movies, including "The Patriot,"
"Blade," and "Jerry Maguire," Donal Logue effortlessly carries the
film with his confident and self-assured performance. He may be
fat, but he's still sexy. He may be irresponsible, but he's still
smart. He may even be a slacker, but at least he's good at it. His
prolific track record makes him a hero in the eye of his friends,
but his reckless nature is about to come back and haunt him in more
ways than one. He realizes that he has to change before he ends
up alone, or even worse, before he ends up dead.
Greer Goodman
is equally impressive as the object of Logue's desire. She's a strong
and independent woman who sees Logue for who he is, which in turn
makes him take a closer look at himself. Together, they make for
one of the most appealingly mismatched couples since John Cusack
and Ione Skye in "Say Anything."
When it first
appeared at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, "The Tao
of Steve" was a big hit. And rightly so. Between its fully developed
characters, its extremely well-written script, and a host of sharp
one-liners that are sure to be quoted for years to come, "The Tao
of Steve" has more going for it than most of the films coming out
of Hollywood these days.
In the end,
Dex's so-called rules may be a crock of you-know-what, but there's
at least one piece of advice that you can take with you when you
leave the theater. In the end, it's all about confidence, and "The
Tao of Steve" is one of the best cinematic breakthroughs of the
year because it actually practices what it preaches--it's cool,
it's excellent, and when it's gone, it goes out on top.
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