THE TAO OF STEVE, which premiered at Sundance, is a thoroughly entertaining take on a 'cool' guy's journey to self realization and true love in Sante Fe. Dex (played with enormous appeal by Donal Logue, THE PATRIOT), an oversized kindergarten school teacher,  has the 'cool' of a Steve McQueen, a Steve McGarret or a Steve Austin and is blessed with an incredibly effective way with women. He and his friends live by the Tao of Steve, a self-indulgent code, whereby they try to attain the cool of their heros who, without need, can effortlessly attract women.

Whether instructing his colleagues or in the midst of a seduction, Dex is wont to deftly quote Lao-tzu, Groucho Marx, Kierkegaard or Heidegger to great surprising effect. His magnetic appeal is not so much physical as verbal and intellectual. Ten years after his college graduation and still without plan or purpose, Dex swings through a life of romantic conquests, frisbee golf and poker nights. Then, Dex meets his Waterloo when he sets his sights on Syd (Greer Goodman), an old college friend, who meets his charming advances with perceptive indifference. For the first time, he has met a woman who doesn't respond to his techniques and who will ultimately teach him a lesson about maturity, love and life.

Director Jenniphr Goodman has an outstanding feel for a film of this genre and succeeds in bringing it to life in a refreshing, unconventional way which seems incredibly vital.