The Tao of Steve

Plot synopsis:
Dex (Logue) is an unlikely Lothario - an overweight, thirtysomething part-time kindergarten teacher - who has developed an effective method for seducing women. "The Tao of Steve", Dex's own personal pseudophilosophy on seduction, combines a Taoist outlook with the qualities embodied by TV characters such as Steve Austin (The Six Million Dollar Man) and Steve McGarrett (Hawaii Five-O) and, above all, by the actor Steve McQueen. He meets up with Syd, an old college conquest whom he can't remember, but to whom he is instantly attracted. However, she never forgot him, and is hurt that he got over her so easily. Slowly, Dex subjects Syd to the "Tao of Steve", but Syd is immune to Dex's charms. Gradually, he develops genuine feelings for her.
During a camping trip with Syd, Dex suffers chest pains and has to be taken to the hospital. A doctor informs Dex that what he thought was a heart attack was merely heartburn, but cautions him that his lifestyle is endangering his health. Later, at school, the husband of one of his conquests punches him in the face in front of his students. Syd comes to Dex's house to console him, and they end up sleeping together. The next day, however, she finds out about his "philosophy", and leaves in disgust. Dex finally realizes that he needs to make changes in his life.
Sometime later, Syd is in New York City, working as a set designer. She leaves a message on Dex's answering machine asking him to call her and talk about their relationship - only to see Dex himself standing before her, ready to give her a chance.

Tags: romantic, philosophical

Review:
Whatever the moniker, everyone knows the type: a guy with stunning looks, a killer smile, lines that don't sound like come-ons, a silky smooth demeanor, an athletic build, whose only problem is deciding which women's numbers to cull from his rolodex.
His life creed is based upon the Steves:  Austin, McGarret, McQueen men who epitomized cool, weren't afraid to get roughed up, never pursued women and for whom things always worked out.
Unlike "High Fidelity", the recent pre-midlife crisis movie which only skimmed the surface of relationships (but was a brilliant movie nonetheless), or "Autumn in New York" the shameless Rogue-sees-the-light-tear-jerker, "The Tao of Steve" is the thinking man's  "About Last Night" - the intangible mixed with the right amount of brashness.
Although it sounds ridiculous it actually works - I know two guys who could have been the model for Dex (I don't think there would be a strong reverse correlation however, as men generally don't understand signals- we're a bit thick that way).
Psychology and writing aside, the actors definitely bring the story to life.Ottawa born Donal Logue, pulled a DeNiro, gaining 45-pounds for the role of Dex - now that's dedication to the craft.
Dex, the leading male character, has told Syd that he's falling in love with her, and she asks why he doesn't stop seeing other women.
So I can bask in the warmth of your annihilating contempt?" The story of this film meanders much like its good-for-nothing hero, Dex, as we follow him through a slacker routine that allows him to do virtually nothing but pick up women and play games with his male friends.He believes that he has the key to life in the "Tao of Steve," which is essentially a guide to fooling women into having sex with a fat loser--himself.
He exclaims, "Why does the American Slacker get so little respect?" The clever dialog and the sweetness of Dex's discovery that he actually loves Syd and doesn't really want to be a professional cad all his life makes the movie worth watching.
We watch him explain his philosophy, use it to manipulate women, and then have to violate it as he finally figures out that while the "Tao of Steve" may get him women, it won't get him the one woman he really wants..
Logue, who pulls a De Niro by gaining nearly a hundred pounds, stars as Dex, a self-deprecating part-time kindergarten teacher who attends his ten year college reunion in the dusty oasis of Santa Fe, New Mexico where he is told by stunned classmates at his jarringly gone-to-pot visage that he was like Elvis.
Dex has a certain acquired charm that he attributes to his own quasi-philosophy, the film's title, referring to the ultimate in guy coolness as being a Steve (as in McGarrett - the Jack Lord character of `Hawaii Five-O', Austin, `The Six Million Dollar Man' and McQueen, the coolest actor of all time, or any suave icon down the pike: James Bond, James Dean, et al.) - and the opposite being Stu - and the certain guidelines in wooing the opposite sex wrapping up with his ultimate kwon, `We persue that which retreats from us.'At the reunion he bumps into Syd (Goodman, the stunningly attractive sister of the filmmaker), a fellow alumni who turns out to be one of Dex's apparent number of sexual conquests in which he later learns he cannot recall her at all.
Here the plot sets into motion the inevitable formula of two people so right for each other yet both guarded, Syd for her share of heartbreaks and Dex for his chronic lying and seductive charisma like some sort of catnip for women including the wife of one of his pals, who he's engaged in a hot affair.Logue makes Dex sympathetic, funny, pathetic, infuriating, likable and ultimately an original character the likes haven't been seen since John Cusack's hey dey in the Eighties and the characters of the 90's indie comedy, `Kicking and Screaming' about arrested development and lifelong search for the perfect love.
Co-written by the sisters and Duncan North, the real-life model of Dex, the dialogue rings true in a brilliant string of set ups for Dex to pontificate before he deflates himself in recourse.One of the best films (and comedies) of this year (or any).
All of the participants in the commentary (including the director, writer, and both leads) were intelligent, amusing, and and very entertaining: I wanted to invite them all over for dinner and play poker and talk philosophy (and of course, the Tao of Steve) until dawn.
this thing has it all: guy talk, girl talk, echoes and resonance, love and respect for all its characters, wit, poignancy, politics, uplift, a tremendous depth and breath of literary allusion, and a substantial dose of digestible philosophy from some of the greatest minds of world thought.
Donal Logue give a brilliant performance as Dex, and Greer Goodman is enchanting as Syd. Greer is the sister of the movie's director, Jenniphr Goodman, and also shared in the writing credits.
"The Tao of Steve" tells of a fat slob of a guy who seems to have unusually good fortune in bedding chicks thanks to his Taoist philosophy.
Will she make him look again at his approach to life?The title should at least give you some idea of the type of film this is going to be because it manages to sound cool and interesting and a bit hip without really doing a lot  which pretty much sums up the appeal of this as a film.
The story doesn't really go to any depth and, at the end of the day it does just what you expect it to do in terms of how it ends but it manages to get passed all this by having the same relaxed attitude of the characters.I'm sure it was not as easy to put together as it appeared but the film moves nicely along with a lot of pop culture references, slacker humour and a touch of genuine humanity in the romance.
The cast also help and, in particular, sterling work from Logue who manages to take a fat, sexist womaniser and make him into a character who has those characteristics but still managed to make me like him and care where his story went.
A clever premise -- overweight lothario with a formula for getting women meets his match -- is wasted when the screenplay falls back on typical gimmicks that it seemingly is trying to subvert.Part of the problem is we never get to see the lead character, Dex, ever utilize his Tao and see how it fits in his life.
And I could have done without the big pop culture scene where the guys hum TV themes around the poker table.But the flaw that sinks the movie is the central relationship between Dex and Sid.
If it had been a little campy and fun, the flaws wouldn't have mattered as much.Who should see this film:-- nobody, see "What Women Want" or "High Fidelity" instead.I am forced to give "The Tao of Steve" a 2 out of 10..
The kind of "normal guys" you see on "Friends" or some other bad vehicle, but never in real life (at least not in mine, thankfully).Having just seen "Swingers" again the night before, it was hard not to compare these two renditions of how the mating/dating game is played from the male side.
Donal Logue plays Dex (the guy who gets lots of chicks) who acts much more like a whiny, latte-sipping wuss than the Steve McQueen-type he is made out to be.
The talented Donal Logue is wasted in this umpteenth version of the self-styled Lothario with a hidden heart of gold who thinks he has all the answers to the art of seduction without commitment until he finds himself swooning over (hold onto your hats!) an attractive girl who forces him to reevaluate his empty life when she is somehow able to resist his dubious charms!
I think that the Dex character (played with maybe just a tad of credibility by Donal Logue) was actually a little dumb when it came to romance.
Neither exploring the world of male-bonding (ala Swingers), or that of it's fairly interesting premise (intellectual posturing as a way to avoid intimacy), this film has no life outside its frames-- all I kept seeing was camera setups, unimaginative and amateurish performances and writing, and an atrocious pop score.About 5 funny lines in the whole mess-- if I had chanced upon it without hearing the hoopla I would have easily dismissed it as another so-so indie..
I feel differently now about that movie as well.) I think a lot of guys like Donal's character use their intelligence and understanding of "coolness" in their social life when it really only functions in poker game banter and party small talk.
What I liked most was the character of Donal Logue (Dex).
I saw the preview a while back, and felt a special kinship with the lead character Dex. I thought, "This is going to be MY movie of the summer." The trailer made it seem like it was going to be a headier version of something like High Fidelity, by having the Cussack type character fill his void with philosophical classics instead of pop music.
After wasting 87 painful minutes watching this brilliantly marketed horror show, I wanted nothing more than to hunt down DEX, the writers (Duncan North and Greer Goodman), and the already hated Lemonheads (for providing the title song that has been haunting me for a full three days after) and taunt them, naked (them, not me.oh what the hell, me too) in the worst way so that they never forget what they did to the unassuming film patron.
And then, last night, I was saved by the Tao of Steve.This is the film that won several awards at the Sundance Film Festival including a best actor award for leading man Donal League.
Here League is center stage as Dex, an overwieght, unmotivated womanizer who is fond of quoting Thomas Aquinas, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, Lao-Tse, Buddha, and pretty much anyone else that comes to mind.The title refers to Dex's belief that people like Steve McQueen, Steve McGarrett, and Steve Austin are the cool guys of the universe who have figured out how to make women want them.
Dex's philosophy seems to be working since he moves from one sexual conquest to another--and then he meets a woman named Syd. The heart of this film is best explained when Dex tries to explain the motives of Don Giovanni - "Don Giovanni slept with 1,000 women because he was afraid he couldn't be loved by one."From the opening scenes it would be easy to write this off as just another trite film about a womanizing party animal, but this is really a morality play about human relationships and personal integrity.
Commenting on gender roles and the war between the sexes, Betty Friedan once said "beneath our masks we are very much alone." This is the heart of Dex's dilemma.This is the directorial debut of Jenniphr Goodman (her spelling not mine), and Jenniphr also receives first-time writing credits with Duncan North and Greer Goodman (the director's sister who also makes her screen debut in a charming performance as Syd).
Dex (Donal Logue) is an underachieving guy who LIKES to be an underachiever.
But, oddly, his completely selfish view of life is challenged and he finds himself wanting to be more for a particularly woman.If you can look past how unlikable Dex can be or if you find him funny, you'll enjoy the film a lot more than others will find it.
I do wish that the movie has a bigger actress to play Syd. In the end, it is the performance of Donal Logue which wins me over like the countless women he sleeps with..
Goodman is spot on as the object of desire for Dex. It was a funny, romantic movie that will be worth watching again..
He makes a cameo during one of the poker scenes, and on the commentary he provides some interesting insight into the movie, the character Dex, and of course the "Tao of Steve".The plot is actually the only weak part of the movie, as a story, it's predictable, but I think that's okay because I found it more interesting to delve into unanswerable questions concerning the characters, and of course, as a hopelessly single young man who has never been able to get the ladies, I spent much time asking myself, "will this really work in real life, ..my life?" Well, according to Duncan North, the aforementioned inspiration for Dex, it does work, and he's living proof.
Donal Logue does a great job with the lead character of Dex, and hopefully we will be seeing more from him in the future.
This intergral lesson is what Dex must learn to achieve his goal, and it is conveyed perfectly throughout the film through the cinematography.In reading the credits one can see the interelatedness of the people who produced this movie and the personal story that the screenwriter told through his script.
But it is the familiarity of the characters which makes these truths and ideas easy to digest, and "The Tao of Steve" such a likeable, easy to watch, thought provoking film.This film reminded me of "Committed" starring Heather Graham in some ways, with similar settings, similar mystical themes and a feeling of redemption at the end.
I would say that "The Tao of Steve" is a better film though because it tells the story in a much more simple, straightforward manner.
This delightful little film proves that you do NOT have to spend a trillion-gazillion dollars to make good films.In a nutshell, Dex (Donal Logue) knows that: "Men and women both want to have sex, but women want to have sex 15 minutes after us, so if you hold out for 20, she'll be chasing you for five" and this is the premise for the movie, if you know Dex's secrets you'll be cool, like all the coolest guys ever; Steve McQueen, Steve ("The 6 Million Dollar Man") Austin and Steve ("Hawaii 5-0") McGarrett.So "Seduction for dummies" (or "The Tao of Steve") is as follows;1.- "Be desireless" ("Women can smell an agenda").
3.- "Be gone" (that's the power of the "20-minute-strategy").With this knowledge Dex keeps scoring with all sort of girls and women, despite being a beer-drinking, dope-smoking underachiever, that is until he meets Syd (Greer Goodman, sister of the director) and in the end HE falls for the girl and has to make a commitment, great film.Go see this one, you will NOT regret it.By the way the Antithesis of cool is being "Stu"..
The character Dex played by Donal Logue has a really tough job because he carries the whole movie.Dex is excellent in his interplay with Dave, James 'Kimo" Wills; his love interest Sid, played by Greer Goodman and the other cast members that make up the card game.On the second level, I liked the subject matter itself: the tension between our societies values and Taoism's requirements to strive to be an excellent man in all of one's actions.Dex is a really smart guy that bends Taoism into a guide to score with chicks.
But when he falls for Syd, Dex begins his search to find the real Tao.The movie may not be for everyone, but this film will make you laugh, and think about the Tao of Steve..
The whole theme of the movie, as it is revealed, is so complex yet simple - just like real life....Anyway - I give this film my own 2 thumbs up!
The plot revolves around two characters: the pot smoking, womanizing but likeable Dex (Donal Logue), and his Cameron Diaz-like love interest, Syd (Greer Goodman).
I hope it is released wide, because a) everyone needs to go see this movie and b) I want to see it again.The movie is about a guy named Dex who is incredibly successful with women.
His technique is a blend of Eastern philosophies and acting like Steve McQueen (hence the Tao of Steve.)  Dex is flummoxed, however, when he meets Syd who is beautiful, intelligent, and impervious to his charms.This movie is intelligent and insightful and very very funny..
It was engaging enough to manage to keep me watching all the way through, even though we all pretty much knew what was going to ultimately happen the first time Syd and Dex met.Without question, however, the ONE aspect which saved this film from being a contrived, boring mess (see: "Bongwater"), was Daniel Logue's performance, which was surprisingly good and authentic.
The story is fairly predictable, somewhat unbelievable, and certain events and characters are never really explained (just what became of that charming philosophy student Dex slept with at the beginning?) The disarming appeal of the characters of Dex and Syd and the insight into how a one-time "party guy" slowly but surely matures are the best things about this movie.
Director Jenniphr Goodman (Greer's sister) uses a terrific cast and beautiful New Mexico locations to tell a funny, heartwarming story that works best because of Logue.
The Tao of Steve is a movie your going to want to see twice!
She decided to create 'The Tao of Steve' based on North's life, including how he utilized Taoist philosophy and combined it with American pop culture's embrace of a trinity of 'machismo' TV characters including Steve Austin (The Six Million Dollar Man), Steve McGarrett (Hawaii Five-O) and, above all, the ultimate 'bad boy' actor, Steve McQueen.Duncan North is dubbed 'Dex' in the film and is played by Donal Logue, an Irish actor who gained significant weight for the role.
Nonetheless, love conquers all after Dex realizes that a deeper relationship with a woman beats simply seducing them, ad infinitum.'The Tao of Steve' is a rare example of an 'indie' film that works!
The script was top-notch as well as the acting, especially Donal Logue.The Tao of Steve is a code that Dex(Logue) and his friends live by for attracting the opposite sex.