• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 625 0

Selim grew up hearing his father’s stories of emigrating from Egypt to Minnesota in the early 1950s and I’m sure they informed his worldview even though the time and circumstances are different in this particular story. Selim and producers James Bigham and Alan Cumming (the same) won the Best First Feature prize at the Independent Spirit Awards, where Elizabeth Reaser was nominated as Best Actress. If there were any justice, she would have had an Oscar nomination as well: if you can find another performance as challenging, expressive, and wide ranging among the films of 2005, I’d be shocked. She barely speaks, and when she does, it’s in the German language. Reaser has done other good work on television (where she was featured as a car-crash victim in Grey’s Anatomy and starred in the short-lived The Ex List) and the big screen, but I’m sure more people will know her as the matriarch of the vampire family in the Twilight movies than will ever see her in Sweet Land. That’s their loss.

How does a first-time feature-film director cast so well and realize all the colors and emotions in his screenplay? I don’t know, but sometimes the fates smile on a movie and this is one glorious example. I’m especially fond of the way Selim described his film in an article he wrote: he says it’s about moving beyond tolerance to acceptance. That’s as lovely and profound as the movie itself.

131. THE TAO OF STEVE

(2000)

Directed by Jenniphr Goodman

Screenplay by Duncan North, Jenniphr Goodman, and Greer Goodman

Source material by Duncan North

Actors:

DONAL LOGUE

GREER GOODMAN

DAVID AARON BAKER

KIMO WILLS

NINA JAROSLAW

AYELET KAZNELSON

At one time, sloth or laziness might have seemed an unlikely quality for the leading character of a movie, but the emergence of the slacker has changed that perception. There are many examples of slacker heroes but the one I like best is played by that likable actor Donal Logue, who’s best known for his work on such TV series as Grounded for Life and Life. He is the star of a disarming little comedy called The Tao of Steve.

Logue plays Dex, who teaches school for a living but spends most of his time lounging around his Santa Fe, New Mexico, house in a bathrobe, expounding on his philosophy of life to his roommates. Dex may not look like much, but he gets all the women he wants because of his patented approach, which is inspired by cool people he admires, like Steve McQueen (not to mention Steve McGarrett and Steve Austin). Dex can talk for hours about his rules of engagement for dealing with the opposite sex—and he’s not just idle bluster, because despite his slovenly appearance he is a veritable chick magnet.

But Dex’s theories disintegrate when he spots an attractive woman named Syd, played by Greer Goodman. For once he’s caught off guard and forgets to put his famous game plan into play: he becomes just like the rest of us, awkward and tongue-tied. Worst of all, he violates his cardinal rule by allowing her to sense that he’s actually interested in her.

The Tao of Steve is smart and funny, with a fresh take on the eternal challenge of male-female relationships. It revels in its engaging dialogue and banter.

It’s interesting to note that this entertaining movie was written by the actress who plays Syd, Greer Goodman, in collaboration with her sister Jenniphr, who directed it, and Duncan North, who presumably brought a male point of view to the writing of the screenplay. I can’t picture anyone else but Donal Logue in the leading role; he was awarded a Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance in this film at the Sundance Film Festival.

The Tao of Steve is one of those tiny movies that’s built a loyal following through repeated showings on cable TV. I’ll bet if the filmmakers published Dex’s words of wisdom in booklet form they could make a bundle through TV infomercials. (But remember, it was my idea.)

132. TASTE OF CHERRY

(1997)

Directed by Abbas Kiarostami

Screenplay by Abbas Kiarostami

Actors:

HOMAYOUN ERSHADI

ABDOLRAHMAN BAGHERI

AFSHIN KHORSHID BAKHTIARI

SAFAR ALI MORADI