How to Deal

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How to Deal

PG-13

2003

1h 41m

Romance

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

27%

Tomatometer

97 Reviews

64%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

For teenager Halley (Mandy Moore), love seems like an alien concept. Her mother, Lydia (Allison Janney), and father, Len (Peter Gallagher), are divorced. Lydia doesn't date, and Len is now seeing a younger woman. Halley's sister, Ashley (Mary Catherine Garrison), is about to get married and doesn't realize that her fiancé (Mackenzie Astin) is not the man of her dreams. But, when Halley meets edgy Macon (Trent Ford), she learns what love is really all about.

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Critics Consensus

Soap opera for teens.

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J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

Jul 2, 2022

Disposable teen romance...

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Dec 24, 2010

1/5

Even Moore fans may find this hard to deal with.

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Peter Travers

Rolling Stone

Jul 31, 2003

2/4

The pop diva goes down with the bubbles in this hopelessly shallow soap opera.

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Sep 11, 2020

1.5/4.0

This film doesn't set out for greatness, which is good as it doesn't even come close.

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Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

Nov 13, 2019

There are some real issues discussed and dealt with here, but I fear they are basically lost in the poor dialogue and erratic direction.

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Joel Siegel

Good Morning America

Jan 3, 2018

D

How to Deal would be a terrible movie anyway, but here are seven reasons parents with children under 13 years old might want to practice due diligence: sex scenes, the F-word, teenage pregnancy, teenage death, tobacco use, alcohol use, drug use.

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thiago s

@Thiagostone Oct 16, 2025

Filme bacaninha, o roteiro é mais ou menos, as cenas são bacaninhas, a história é mais ou menos, o elenco é mais ou menos, e alguns ajudam a melhorar o filme, os personagens são mais ou menos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes.

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steve d

@RT35616104 Feb 1, 2023

Far too boy obsessed to flesh out its characters.

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Jun 25, 2019

Seen this in theaters with my ex who wanted to see this. Needless to say i am happy she's still my ex.this movie was garbage. Only Saving grace was Recent Oscar winner Allison Janney and Nina Foch playing the Grandmother. Other than that: Dont waste your time or money on this!!!

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Feb 19, 2017

This was a decent adaptation of the nov l it is based on, but the books are better. This cut out a lot of detail that I missed.

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Oct 18, 2014

The consensus says it's a "soap opera for teens". Even for the early noughties, Degrassi and everything else on cable succeeded at that department without needing forced, forgettable melodrama or Mandy Moore in the starring role.

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Fausto M

@faustomolina1 May 31, 2014

An adaptation of two novels: "The Summer" & "Someone Like You" by Sarah Dessen. The film has a solid realistic concept of a 17 year old girl: Halley Martin played by Mandy Moore dealing with growing up while feeling out of place with the people around her. She is dissllusioned with love after seeing the dysfunctional relationships around her. In some ways the film is actually interesting and feels genuine. Mandy Moore does a decent job but not being a seasoned actress she makes some of her dialogue sound more intelligent than the character she plays. Other teen actors in the film aren't fully believable in their roles making things feel forced. This alongside with the situations Halley finds herself in and her rections turns this into a "teen melodramatic" stereotype rather than the good or even great coming of age film it could have been.

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Clare Kilner

Director

Mandy Moore

Halley Martin

Allison Janney

Lydia Martin

Trent Ford

Macon

Alexandra Holden

Scarlett

Dylan Baker

Steve

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Synopsis

For teenager Halley (Mandy Moore), love seems like an alien concept. Her mother, Lydia (Allison Janney), and father, Len (Peter Gallagher), are divorced. Lydia doesn't date, and Len is now seeing a younger woman. Halley's sister, Ashley (Mary Catherine Garrison), is about to get married and doesn't realize that her fiancé (Mackenzie Astin) is not the man of her dreams. But, when Halley meets edgy Macon (Trent Ford), she learns what love is really all about.

Director: Clare Kilner
Producer: William Teitler, Erica Huggins
Screenwriter: Neena Beber, Sarah Dessen
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Production Co: New Line Cinema
Rating: PG-13 (Sexual Content|Language|Drug Material|Some Thematic Elements)
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 18, 2003, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 9, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $14.1M
Runtime: 1h 41m
Sound Mix: Surround

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