“It’s not my fault, I’m a guy. We’re not supposed to know these things.”

This all-too-frequent and unfortunately correct guy excuse haunts women everywhere who are smart enough to know better.

Face it ladies, they do spend Saturdays lounging on the couch wearing a dirty T-shirt and scroungy sweat pants. They drink beer, play poker and worship 24-hour Sportscenter like a god.

Every once in awhile, someone manages to capture the true male on film. Director Jenniphr Goodman has done the nearly impossible in her creation, The Tao of Steve. Goodman, along with fellow writers Duncan North and Greer Goodman, capture the ultimate American male with unsurpassed wit and style.

The Tao of Steve falls under the dangerous category of romantic comedies, but you won’t find Julia Roberts and Harrison Ford anywhere near this movie, and it’s all the better for it.

This is not your typical chick flick which is why it can’t be found at huge theater complexes. As a Sundance 2000 winner, The Tao of Steve continues to entertain audiences and appease critics everywhere.

The Tao of Steve centers around the philosophy of Dex, played by Donal Logue. Dex is an overweight, middle-aged, college graduate who works part-time as a kindergarten teacher so that work won’t cut into his Frisbee golf or time spent hanging with the guys.

He lives with three other slacker-types in an adobe house with a homemade Frisbee golf course as their front lawn.

The film opens with Dex picking up women at his 10-year college reunion and since his most prominent feature is his enormous beer belly this would appear to be the impossible dream.

But Dex is not your average man Simply because he employs the philosophy of Steve while on the chase, Dex always gets his woman.

The rules are basic but essential if you wish to cure the empty-bed blues.

Rule 1: Eliminate your desires. According to Dex, if a woman senses that all you want to do is sleep with her, you’re doomed. Rule 2: Do something excellent in her presence, thereby proving your sexual worthiness. Rule 3: Retreat.

By following the rules, any average Joe can be transformed into a Steve McQueen. More simply put, Jughead can become James Bond.

Dex has perfected the philosophy of Steve and teaches the Jughead of the gang, Dave, played by Kinlo Wills, as well as the audience, through comedic quirks as he retrieves Frisbees from the roof and sinks the eight ball.

However, life fails to remain blissful and worry-free for Dex and, of course, it’s a woman who wrecks everything.

At the reunion, Dex sets his sights on Syd, played by Greer Goodman,. Syd, an opera set designer, initially rejects Dex’s romantic advances but after “proving his worthiness” with quality kid interaction it looks as if there might be hope for the fat man.

At one of the film’s high points, Syd counteracts one of Dex’s textbook romance moves by inadvertantly comparing him to Don Giovani. She asks if Dex, like Giovani, dates so many woman because he is afraid that he won’t be able to earn the love of one.

Dex replies with silence.

Overall, The Tao of Steve offers a refreshing break from the typical Hollywood mold, as a true independent film should.

With any luck, The Tao of Steve, will not be overlooked in lieu of unworthy mainstream films. However, it could be argued that by not going you are missing out, not the film.

The clarity and accuracy with which the writers of The Tao of Steve delve into the deep, dark secrets of the complex relationships between men and women is unreal.

The film is currently playing in the main theater of the Tivoli.

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