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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Chant all day, check out chicks and pretend to be holy.", June 1, 2005
I've seen Donal Logue in a number of things (I first saw him in the mid 90's on MTV as a greasy cab driver), most notably the first Blade (1998) film and the TV show `Grounded for Life' (which is actually pretty good, although I'm unsure if it is still on the air), and he's always been a hefty fellow, but seeing him in The Tao of Steve (2000) set me back a little as it looked like he really packed on the weight, complete with distended gut and all. Was it for the film? Or just perhaps something due to his particular lifestyle at the time? I don't know, and I suppose it doesn't really matter, but what I do know is I liked this film, even if his character wasn't particularly likeable. Co-written by Duncan North, Greer Goodman (who also has a starring role), and Jenniphr Goodman (who is also the director), the film stars, as I already mentioned, Donal Logue and Greer Goodman. Also appearing is James 'Kimo' Wills (Buffalo Soldiers), Ayelet Kaznelson (Four Lane Highway), and David Aaron Baker (Kissing Jessica Stein).
First off I think it's important to mention there is no character in this film named `Steve'. The main character is named Dex, and played by Logue. Dex is an overweight, educated, intelligent, philosophizing, unattractive, part-time working lump of a human being with seemingly little ambition other than to get into women's pants. To this regard, he has developed what he calls the `Tao of Steve', which consists of three main aspects when it comes to dealing with women. As far as the `Steve' part, that relates to the `coolness' exhibited by popular cultural icons that are named Steve, like Steve McQueen, Steve Austin (The Six Million Dollar Man), and Steve McGarrett, from the Hawaii 5-0 TV show...in other words, the epitome of coolness, for some at least...anyway, back to the three main aspects...the first is to eliminate all desire, especially for those who don't have the physical attributes of say, an Adonis...this entails not letting a woman know how much you want to nail her. Apparently women can smell desperation, but if you show no interest in her, she may begin to wonder, being that she is really hot and way out of your league, why don't you want her? All women have insecurities, and this seems a roundabout way to capitalize on them...the 2nd aspect, once you've eliminated desire, is to be excellent...not in general, but do something in front of the woman you want to get with to show her you have a quality worthy of her giving `it' up. The 3rd and final aspect is to retreat...meaning, once you've hooked her, back off and let her come to you. This gives her the assumption that she has the power and is dictating when the time for the horizontal shimmy is appropriate. Using this simple philosophy, along with a whole lot of BS, Dex is able to score much more regularly despite his slovenly physical nature would normally allow for...and this is working well until he meets Syd (Goodman), a woman Dex begins to see as real, flesh and blood individual rather than just another possible conquest.
Okay, the character of Dex isn't particularly likeable to most of us, given his manipulative nature and seemingly superficial views on women and relationships in general, but he's still fun to watch. There is an underlying theme throughout of Dex utilizing the inherent complexities (and insecurities) of women in order to bed them, which is dealt with under the justification that since Dex is not, or will never be, a pretty boy, he must find some other tactics to achieve his goals. I don't think there are many of us who haven't employed any one of his theories at one time or another, the difference being Dex just happens to have developed and refined them to the point of actually being a workable system. Most important is how it is applied to the particular individual (in this case Dex), and that individual having an understanding of his own capabilities and/or limitations. The story is really nothing new, a somewhat slick BS artist set in his ways coming up against someone who draws forth feelings and desires that go further than what he is accustom to, and subsequently has difficulty in dealing with the revelation of his true, core being, that of someone who actually may be human, but the way the story is told is a little different than what I was used to...there's a realistic element involved, in that Logue isn't a Robert Downey Hollywood sort (Downey has done a number of roles like this), and the catalyst in the character of Syd is certainly beautiful, but not necessarily unobtainable. She's also intelligent enough to perceive a certain amount of BS when presented to her, and Dex realizes this very soon after he delivers his standard attempts, to which he quickly admits thus to Syd, perhaps in an effort to say, `Yes, I am a despicable fellow, but not so much with you as you're so different than any of those I've encountered before.' Dex doesn't really come off as an endearing sort throughout the film, but we do see sort of an `awakening', a self realization that life is not a series of simplistic encounters and a serious, complex relationship is something worth having and maintaining. Did I mention this is a comedy? Because it sounds, from my review, I am making this out to be something other than it is...overall I think this is a film comprised of a couple of different levels, one that works as a comedy, but also features the underlying aspects I mentioned above, both of which come together nicely at the end.
The anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) picture on this DVD comes through nicely, as does the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. Special features include a commentary track from director Jenniphr Goodman, actress Greer Goodman, actor Donal Logue, and writer Duncan North, along with talent files and trailers for other films Logue has appeared in, including Jerry McGuire (1996), The Patriot (2000), and this film.
Cookieman108
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Doing Stuff is Overrated..., January 26, 2001
But this movie certainly wasn't. A huge hit at last year's Sundance Festival, Tao of Steve totally lived up to the hype. The script is very funny and well-written -- dialogues are a bit Kevin Smith-esque, but more genuine and less over-the-top. Jokes work because the actors don't sound like they are just reading their lines. Interesting note: I had a chance to attend Q&A session with Jenniphr Goodman (the director/co-writer), Duncan North (real-life Dex/co-writer) and Donal Logue (who plays our slacker lothario to perfection) at the Seattle Film Festival, and apparently very little, if any, of the movie was improvised. Donal said since it was written by "real" people (as opposed to those non-human screenwriters ;) he felt natural saying the lines that were given to him.
Despite a rather predictable ending, "Tao of Steve" is a super fun movie -- something worth keeping around for occasional viewings.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite simply a great movie., February 16, 2005
This is one of the best, smartest movies I've ever seen. I've lent it to all my friends and everyone of them has fallen in love with it. I think it catches so much of the dynamic of that late twenties to mid-thirties single crowd. College is over, sure the same tricks work on college girls and unhappy housewives but you've got to grow up eventually.
Such is the story of Dex and Sid. Dex can still reel in the college girls, but come on that's like shooting fish in a barrel. That smart 30 something is a different story. I'm not going to spoil anything here just check it out for yourself.
Some reviewers seem to think it was a movie about frisbee golf, I guess if you didn't get it then the movie was way to smart for you. Who cares how Dex threw the frisbee Stu, Rocky had terrible form in the ring and Mojo didn't play for the Texas State title in 88. Get over it, pretend for a minute you're an adult and try to understand the story.
Anyway, I think you'd be a fool not to watch this movie. In fact buy the movie, buy the soundtrack, embrace the Tao of Steve. If for no other reason than it's the only movie I've ever seen that uses the word solipsistic. Might be hard for a Frisbee Freak to figure out but I'm sure all the grown-ups can kick back and enjoy.
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