The best part about this movie is the concept of a fat man being able to score, despite his bulk.  Of course this fat man was, at one time, a lean, mean ladies machine.  He has kept his personality and lascivious ways, but his machinery has eroded, so to speak.  Fans of Frisbee golf will want to watch this movie, as it elevates the sport to an almost mystical level (emphasis on almost).  Oh yeah, and there is all this eastern philosophy stuff about how to pick up chicks…”we follow that which retreats,” absence of desire, etc.  Spirituality applied to sexual conquest, for Dex (a 'Steve' kinda guy) tells his dweeb-like roommate (a 'Stu' kinda guy) that this Taoist stuff is the ticket for fat men (and dweebs) to make it with beautiful women.  I can’t help thinking that someone is unclear on the concept of eastern thought here, but the movie shows Dex reading and talking a lot of philosophy, so he must know what he is doing.  While the Taoism serves as an amusing sub-plot, the main plot reads like any romantic comedy:  swingin’ guy has lots of girls; becomes attracted to one who doesn’t immediately return his interest (or vice versa); climactic get together; then strife and separation; ending with a reunion of some sort, often in another country or state.  Perhaps, like drama, all romantic comedy plots come from original Ancient Greek sitcoms.  All my critical carping aside, The Tao of Steve has likeable characters and a very realistic portrayal of dudes living together as roommates.  Who cares if portraying fat men scoring is more acceptable than portraying fat women doing the same?  Who cares if the movie uses B actors, and it shows.  Uh-oh, there I go again.  I’ll just give this movie 3 stars for amusement value, and leave it at that.
Big Head Review4/26/01