How to Deal

PG-13

Released Jul 18, 2003

1 hr. 41 min.

Romance

Comedy

Drama

List

27%

98 Reviews

Tomatometer

64%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Jul 25

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent How to Deal on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Critics Consensus

Soap opera for teens.

Read Critics Reviews

steve d

Far too boy obsessed to flesh out its characters.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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!!!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

by the end of all these eyebrow raising cliches there is actually something a bit enjoyable underneath.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Clare Kilner

Director

Mandy Moore

Halley Martin

Allison Janney

Lydia Martin

Trent Ford

Macon

Alexandra Holden

Scarlett

Dylan Baker

Steve

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

47%

37%

Picture Perfect

54%

75%

The Bread, My Sweet

28%

66%

Elizabethtown

TRAILER

for Elizabethtown

66%

60%

Fever Pitch

TRAILER

for Fever Pitch

54%

59%

Save the Last Dance

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

Disposable teen romance...

Jul 2, 2022

Full Review

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Even Moore fans may find this hard to deal with.

Rated: 1/5

Dec 24, 2010

Full Review

Amy Amatangelo

Boston Herald

Rated: 1/4

Jul 16, 2005

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

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

Rated: 1.5/4.0

Sep 11, 2020

Full Review

Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

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

Nov 13, 2019

Full Review

Joel Siegel

Good Morning America

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.

Rated: D

Jan 3, 2018

Full Review

Read all reviews

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
Executive Producer: Ted Field, Scott Kroopf, Chris Van Allsburg, David Linde
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
Sound Mix: Surround

Most Popular at Home Now