How to Deal (2003)

A teenager (Moore), disillusioned by too many examples of love gone wrong, refuses to believe that true love exists. Then this new guy (Ford) comes along...

Director:

Clare Kilner

Writers:

Sarah Dessen (novels), Neena Beber (screenplay)

Stars:

Mandy Moore, Allison Janney, Trent Ford

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mandy Moore	...	Halley Martin
Allison Janney	...	Lydia Martin
Trent Ford	...	Macon Forrester
Alexandra Holden	...	Scarlett Smith
Dylan Baker	...	Steve Beckwith
Nina Foch	...	Grandma Halley
Mackenzie Astin	...	Lewis Warsher
Connie Ray	...	Marion Smith
Mary Catherine Garrison	...	Ashley Martin
Sonja Smits	...	Carol Warsher
Laura Catalano	...	Lorna Queen
Ray Kahnert	...	Donald Sherwood
Andrew Gillies	...	Buck Warsher
John White	...	Michael Sherwood
Alison MacLeod	...	Sharon Sherwood

Storyline

Halley is a young high school student who is disillusioned with love after seeing the many dysfunctional relationships around her. Her parents are now divorced and her father has a new young girlfriend she doesn't care for too much. Her mother is now always alone; and her sister is so overwhelmed by her upcoming wedding that she barely leaves the house anymore. On top of that, the shallowness of all the girls and guys at her school convinces Halley that finding true love is impossible. A tragic accident, however, leads her to meeting Macon, and suddenly Halley finds that true love can occur under unusual circumstances.

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Plot Keywords:

high school | wedding | mother | sister | best friend | 

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Taglines:

A lesson in love for non-believers.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, drug material, language and some thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

New Line

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 July 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Enamórate

Filming Locations:

Birchmount Collegiate, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$61,305 (South Africa) (23 January 2004)

Gross:

$61,305 (South Africa) (23 January 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Golden Mean, Radar Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last cinema film of Nina Foch.

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Goofs

When Halley and Scarlett are hiding behind the ticket booth at the movie theater, the reflection in the glass does not match the surrounding shots that show what they are looking at.

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Quotes

Macon: So do you hate me?
Halley: Not you, per se. I hate the way that your hair falls in your face. And I hate the way that your voice gets really low when you're serious.
[Macon bites lower lip]
Halley: And I hate the way that you bite your bottom lip when you're nervous. And the way your eyebrow goes
[whistles and motions with hand]
Halley: like that. I hate that.
Macon: So that's it? You just hate the way I walk and talk and look.
Halley: No. That Jedi mind trick thing? I hate that.

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Connections

Spoofs Gone with the Wind (1939)

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Soundtracks

"It's on the Rocks"
Written by M. Ford, A. Robertson, B. Anderson and T. Castellano
Performed by The Donnas
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing

User Reviews

It's NOT a romantic comedy

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.