There's a disconcerting moment, around 35 minute into Jenniphr Goodman's The Tao of Steve, where it becomes clear that the film has gone about as far as it can go. Having set up the characters and the situation wonderfully, it's suddenly clear that the film is out of plot and that everything else that comes afterward is going to be predictable and conventional. You hope and pray that the romantic cliches will at least be doled out with skill. And sometimes they are. But for the most part, after introducing Dex, one of the most amusing screen characters in recent memory, The Tao of Steve leaves him hanging. Dex deserves a better movie than this.

Dex (amusing character sidekick Donal Logue making the best of a rare cinematic lead) was the big man on campus. He was smart and the ladies loved him. Now, ten years later, he's gained weight and he doesn't even have a full-time job. Most of his time is spent playing frisbee golf and poker with a jovial (but individually indistinct) group of friends. And yet somehow, he still seems to have slept with all of the single women (and some of the married women) in Santa Fe. How, you might ask... Thanks to the Tao of Steve, a mixture of zen philosophy, pop culture addiction, and "Mars/Venus"-style relationship psychology. The goal of the Tao is to achieve the level of cool attained by such famous Steves as Steve Austin and Steve McQueen. It's a philosophy geared toward short-term gratification, at least until Dex meets Syd (Greer Goodman, sister of the director, who also co-wrote the script). And suddenly the rules no longer apply.

Or at least the rules of the Tao of Steve no longer apply. The rules of cinematic romantic convention, on the other hand, apply in spades. The Goodmans and Duncan North (who apparently was the inspiration for Dex) have a super time establishing their characters and their relationship to the excellently depicted New Mexico locales. Dex is an immediately intriguing character because Logue perfectly presents the ambiguity between self-loathing and egomania that drive his character. Dex is both pathetic and charismatic, both proud of his life and obviously embarrassed by what he's become. The viewer is drawn in to these contradictions and we can understand why Dex is still appealing to women even thought he's a hundred pounds over his ideal fighting weight.

And we also understand why he'd so attracted to Syd. Goodman (in her first on-screen acting role) is a natural and her Syd is a no-nonsense, smart, beautiful women who appears not to be blinded by awe for Dex's previous manliness. She sees the holes in is life and has to grow to learn that he has depth beyond the blubbery exterior and frequent name-dropping of important thinkers.

But there's nothing to it. The film is a character sketch or a short story. At best it's a one-man show. This is the kind of film that works best when the writers and directors decide to almost entirely eschew plot, to simply let the characters go. But the developing romantic between Syd and Dex is both inevitable and belabored. Sure, the audience wants them to get together, but I certainly didn't spend any time being pleased with how the film went about setting them up. The writers are talented and observant, but they didn't bother to put enough effort into plot. As a result, The Tao of Steve coasts on charm for nearly two-thirds of its running time and few films can afford to do that.

The films technical results are mixed. Jenniphr Gooman's directing style is relaxed and she brings out the best in her two leads, but the performances by the supporting cast members are uniformly amateurish and uninspired (and the characters are all underwritten). I thought that Teodoro Maniaci's cinematography to a good job with the Southwestern flavor of the film. The opening credit sequence is awful and totally stylistically inappropriate to the film. And while the soundtrack features some nice tunes, they frequently are redundant to the images (two of the songs specifically reference Steve McQueen in their lyrics and the use of "I Lied About Being The Outdoor Type" on a hiking trip was gratuitous).

So while I really liked Dex and I largely liked Syd, I'm not sure that I like the movie they were in. Or at least I wished there was more to it.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older