Tao of Steve Review
By Joe Lozito
Con Juan
"The Tao of Steve" plays like a low-rent, mid-twenties "When Harry Met Sally...", without the New York backdrop. The Harry in this case is Dex (newcomer Donal Logue), a former high school stud who has noticeably let himself go in the last ten years. Sally is an alum from the same high school, Syd (Greer Goodman), who Dex meets again at their tenth year reunion.
The film was written by Ms. Goodman, director Jenniphr Goodman, and Duncan North, on whose life the film is none-too-loosely based. The three cohorts obviously have a great love for the characters and a deep understanding of what makes them tick.
Dex and his tight-knit group of professional slackers exist as would-be pick-up martial artists. They live by a theory based on the premise that real players must strive to be as "Steve" as possible (as in Steve McQueen, Steve Austin, etc). The "Steve" concept is really the crux of the movie and the only thing that makes it more than an ordinary love story.
Mr. Logue carries the movie with a wonderful, charismatic portrayal of a man almost comfortable in his ample skin. When he is expounding his rules of dating behavior he is a kind of jolly, hipster Buddha. But when he inexplicably falls head over heels for Syd, the movie tries a little too hard and too obviously to prove how misguided the principles of Steve-ism are.
Of course, there are no easy answers or rules to follow in relationships (regardless of what the "Men are from Mars..." books would say), but what saves "The Tao of Steve" is that it is largely correct. Correct in the same way that Maxim magazine and beer commercials are correct. Unfortunately, the film ends with the same unwelcome redemption to be found in so many films which venture to explain the battle of the sexes. The near total lack of chemistry between Mr. Logue and Ms. Goodman makes the consummation of their relationship (oh, come on, am I really giving anything way?) seem awkward. For once, at least between Dex and Syd, a movie may have proven that certain men and women can and should just be friends.
