The Tao of Steve
Consistently amusing "little" movie, about a sloppy, fat, part-time kindergarten teacher who still manages to get laid whenever he wants--and the girl who finally lands this prize specimen.
Dex, a former overachieving college stud whose reasons for going to pot are never provided, believes in the Tao of Steve, a metaphor for the way life is lived by the coolest of the cool, the men who are Steve (Austin, Garreth, and McQueen). Of course, he only adopts that policy when it comes to getting laid--none of the Steves lived as he does, which is quintessentially Stu (the name of the uncool). His reasoning as to why the technique works and his explanations are the basis for the much of the comedy, which works very well.
And of course, he meets someone who he actually wants to be with and the entire strategy dissolves, just when he needs it most. But how to manage the affairs of the heart and still save face with his pals?
Donal Logue plays the rogue with a fat suit and some added weight (odd to think he was the AIDS poster boy in And The Band Played On) and the movie relies heavily on his charm, although all the performances are solid, with Kimo Wills standing out in the "junior roommate" role.
Like Free Enterprise, Tao is a pleasant change from the maudlin and moralizing relationship comedies of recent years--most notably High Fidelity, with its desperate snowjob on the desirability of settling for a dreary set of "shoulds", just because it's time. Lord knows a film's easier to take without an agenda.
