Amy Adler Halley (Mandy Moore) is having trouble figuring out "how to deal" with problems. Her parents have just divorced, because her Peter Pan-like father (Peter Gallagher), a disc jockey, had his eyes set on a much younger woman. Her mother (Allison Janney) is, appropriately, crushed and remote. Big sister Ashley is planning a wedding with her buttoned-down fiancé and trying to make everything perfect. If it were not for her best friend Scarlett, Halley would be out in the cold. Then, tragedy strikes. Scarlett's boyfriend dies of a heart condition in the middle of a soccer game and Halley is thrown for another loop. When she is approached by Macon, a friend of the deceased boy, she just wants to be friends. But, is it possible for Halley to keep Macon at arms length? Teens may love this movie and it does have likable stars. Moore is really quite nice as the teen with troubles. Gallagher and Janney are, likewise, very fine as the parents. Indeed, the acting of the cast members is good and not the movie's problem at all. Instead, it is the script and its contrivances that are the problem. Halley seems too worldly wise to be a teen and just boomerangs from one problem to another, in this viewer's opinion. No matter. Most young fans of the film will probably embrace it mightily. But, if you are over 30, watching the film may seem more like a chore than entertainment.

gavin6942 How to Deal is the tale of a girl, played by Mandy Moore, who doesn't believe that falling in love is a good idea because her parents are divorced, her friend is knocked up by a dead guy, her sister fights with her fiancée and her father is marrying a woman half his age. So let's rate this on the point system, one point for each good thing and one point subtracted for each bad thing. 1. Hot outfits: short shorts, plaid shirt, funeral outfit (3 points) 2. Peter Gallagher appears (1 point) 3. Flaming Lips song, "Do You Realize?" even though it's played at a very inappropriate moment (1 point) 4. Two make-out scenes that ruin Mandy's image. (-2 points) 5. Mandy explaining that she is nothing like the character she is playing, giving her credit for #4... (1 point) 6. Star Wars references: Jedi Mind Trick, posters, figurines, movie theater, light sabers (-5 points) 7. Blatantly obvious endorsements of Coca-Coca and Krispy Kreme (-2 points) 8. Pot-smoking Grandmother (1 point) 9. Mandy reads Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" (1 point) 10. Mandy reads "Our Bodies, Ourselves" (-1 point) 11. Gone With the Wind reference, oddly about "Ashley" and not about "Scarlett" (regardless, that movie is atrociously awful) (-1 point) 12. John Mayer song (1 point) 13. Running a Stop Sign, like Bubb Rubb (1 point) 14. Ugly outfits: doily shirt, black and white stripes (-2 points) Point total: -3 points Conclusion: It's still a Mandy Moore movie, so the points don't count and it's automatically worth watching. :)

dianawannabe1129 Mandy Moore stars in two of my all-time favorite movies, "Chasing Liberty" and this movie, "How to Deal". Based on two popular novels by my favorite author, Sarah Dessen, this movie deals with the life of cynical Halley (Moore), who doesn't believe in true love. Now, I'm not to say this is a romantic comedy, more of a romantic comedy-drama. I like dramatic films, such as this one, "Dead Poets Society", and "Chasing Liberty", but will open up to some comedies, such as "Uptown Girls" and "13 Going on 30". I'm kind of an open-ended mind. I give this movie a ten out of ten because of the great acting, all-star cast, and cute Trent Ford as a newcomer. They modified some details of the books, but I don't care. It's still one of my fave movies.

Shawn Watson New Line has sold this movie short and filed it as a Romantic Comedy but I must stress it is not. It's a teen drama with some romance and humor. Think of it as a teen version of American Beauty. Though it's all rather light, How to Deal does have some seriousness and important parts.Mandy Moore (marry me?) is Halley Martin, a teenage girl who refuses to believe that true love exists (like me). Her best pal does but is heartbroken when her boyfriend drops dead on the football field of a heart defect (err...like me). Halley's parents have split and found others, her sister is engaged to some guy and all they do is argue. It seems like the best way to deal with love is to avoid it.All that changes when Halley meets Macon (stupid name) a geeky Star Wars nerd. He seems like a dweeb at first but his character grows on you, as he does Halley. He's played by Trent Ford and on the cover he's wearing a white vest and is marketed as a sexually neutral, non-threatening pretty boy (Orlando Bloom, Justin Timberlake etc) but that ain't him or his character at all and he never appears in a vest at any point in the movie. I expected to hate him just because of the cover but that ain't so. In the course of her steadily strengthening relationship with Macom (really, what a stupid name!) Halley learns how to deal with teen pregnancy, being a bridesmaid, her dope-smoking grandmother, car crashes, stepmoms, stepdads etc. Stuff that every kid learns. Real kids, not the kids that make love to pastries or live in mansions, which are the only 2 types of kids Hollywood thinks exist.Taken from 2 separate novels by Sarah Dessen called 'Someone Like You' and 'That Summer' it's possible that How to Deal might have a sequel. And if it does its literary roots guarantee it will a better sequel than most.I recommend How to Deal for anyone who is sick to death of endless American Pie clones or Harold and Kumar or Maid in Manhatten/Laws of Attraction/Two Weeks Notice/Sweet Home Alabama/blah blah blah. It's not a romantic comedy, not by a long shot. It's far more realistic than that and it doesn't insult your intelligence. Give it a go.The DVD is in great-looking 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound. The extras are actually quite good for a change, one of them focusing on Young Adult Literature and it's definitely a good DVD for the price.