Critic Reviews
How to Deal (2003) Rank 2 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (160) reviews
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Reviews by Score:
New York Times (A.O. Scott)
After a while the bad lighting, graceless editing, sluggish dialogue and self-conscious performances begin to seem like marks of authenticity, as if the movie had been made not just for and about teenagers, but by them. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Village Voice (Laura Sinagra)
As Mom, Allison Janney easily dominates every scene she graces, as does Morning Zoo jock papa Peter Gallagher. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Village Voice (Laura Sinagra)
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
It has more indigestible plot contrivances than a Claxton fruit cake has raisins, but at bottom it's not insultingly facile and it's moderately entertaining within its own soapy aims. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
Los Angeles Times (Kevin Thomas)
Some moments ring true, others seem contrived, but the film is by and large sustained by strong central performances and by its depth. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kevin Thomas)
Los Angeles Times (Kevin Thomas)
Works up some genuine emotion offset by occasional humor and creates individuals of a certain degree of complexity, but the film is glazed over with an aura of artificiality. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kevin Thomas)
Jam! Movies (Jane Stevenson)
Part comedy, part tragedy, this teen romance rises above most of them out there, due in no small part to the sexy chemistry between Moore and Ford. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Jam! Movies (Jane Stevenson)
Netflix (James Rocchi)
Rushed, crowded teen drama kinda-sorta satisfies as pop star-turned-actress Mandy Moore leans to embrace ... love. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Netflix (James Rocchi)
cinEncanto (Pablo del Moral)
Boxoffice Magazine
Sacramento Bee (Joe Baltake)
This is a pretty ghastly movie, except for the fact that, every once in a while, a glimmer of genuine humanity is allowed to peek through all of the artificial teen angst. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Sacramento Bee (Joe Baltake)
Hollywood.com (Guylaine Cadorette)
Screenwriter Neena Beber injected the script with scenes that didn't necessarily fit, but were added because they're expected in angst-y teen pics. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Hollywood.com (Guylaine Cadorette)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
[The movie] targets 12- to 16-year-old girls, and they're going to enjoy it. But it's hard to imagine someone outside that spectrum getting very excited. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
"How to Deal" is painless to watch, but it's marred by some significant flaws. For one thing, Halley's romance with Macon takes up a huge, sodden chunk of the movie, and it's the least interesting thing about it. Moore, with her sunbeam smile, is a ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
Cinema Confidential (Thomas Chau)
It may taste like teenage sap, but How to Deal reminds us how we once felt the same way. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Cinema Confidential (Thomas Chau)
Premiere Magazine (Alexis Mersel)
The handful of comic moments will serve up a few good laughs. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Premiere Magazine (Alexis Mersel)
Fantastica Daily (Mervius)
The best thing I can say about How to Deal is that the camera loves Mandy Moore. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Fantastica Daily (Mervius)
Hartford Courant (--)
Boston Globe (Wesley Morris)
This movie is the worst episode of Gilmore Girls ever. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Boston Globe (Wesley Morris)
Miami Herald (Connie Ogle)
How to Deal can't make up its mind what it is, which makes for a confusing experience. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Miami Herald (Connie Ogle)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Carrie Rickey)
The film, based on Sarah Dessen's young-adult novels Someone Like You and That Summer , isn't that good. But Moore is. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Carrie Rickey)
Detroit Free Press (John Monaghan)
How to Deal might be a serviceable drama for kids. For anyone with a driver's license, though, Moore's sophomore vehicle hits too many wrong notes. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Detroit Free Press (John Monaghan)
Los Angeles Daily News (Bob Strauss)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
The pop diva goes down with the bubbles in this hopelessly shallow soap opera. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Miami Herald (Connie Ogle)
Mostly honest in its portrayal of teen sexuality -- it exists, whether we like it or not -- but also offers up the troubling notion of teen pregnancy as romantic and magical. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Miami Herald (Connie Ogle)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
The pop diva goes down with the bubbles in this hopelessly shallow soap opera. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
Director Claire Kilner and screenwriter Neena Beber don't walk the tightrope between comedy and drama skillfully enough to make either aspect work as well as it should. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
Reel Movie Critic (Shelley Cameron)
DVD Clinic ("The Arrow")
The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)
Las Vegas Weekly (Jaime Buerger)
The Movie Chicks
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Comingsoon.net
âHow To Dealâ is based on the young adult novels âSomeone Like Youâ and âThat Summerâ by Sarah Dessen.
Halley Martinâs life is coming crashing down around her. Her parents are getting a divorce and her DJ father is remarrying a bimbo. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Comingsoon.net
New York Post (Jonathn Foreman)
The sad truth is that TV series like "Dawson's Creek" do a better job with precocious teen dialogue. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at New York Post (Jonathn Foreman)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Godard famously informed us that the history of cinema is the history of boys photographing girls, and although "How to Deal" may not be very good, it is splendidly historical in Godardian terms. The girl is Mandy Moore, who has such an unaffected natural ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
San Francisco Chronicle (Carla Meyer)
A thoughtful but uneven teen picture, also has too much going on. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Carla Meyer)
Dallas Observer (Bill Gallo)
Competently if unremarkably directed by Englishwoman Clare Kilner, should prove compelling enough to Moore's huge legion of fans. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Dallas Observer (Bill Gallo)
Chicago Reader (J.R. Jones)
Disposable teen romance. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Chicago Reader (J.R. Jones)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
I watched the movie with interest, yes, but not emotional involvement, and my appreciation of Moore was based more on her essence than on her character. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Boston Globe (Wesley Morris)
This movie is the worst episode of ''Gilmore Girls'' ever. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Boston Globe (Wesley Morris)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Kilner and crew cough up a mish-mash of contrasting tones and tempos and wind up a rather odd, misshapen curiosity that wavers into too many styles to avoid a slow death by overkill. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Toronto Star (Daphne Gordon)
Arizona Republic (Kathy Cano Murillo)
There's one way to deal with Mandy Moore's new drama, How to Deal : Don't. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Arizona Republic (Kathy Cano Murillo)
Boxoffice Magazine (Sheri Linden)
Despite its humorous touches, Deal overindulges an appealing gentleness to become increasingly cloying. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Boxoffice Magazine (Sheri Linden)
Providence Journal (Michael Janusonis)
LA Weekly (Hazel-Dawn Dumpert)
How much can one girl grapple with over the course of an hour and a ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at LA Weekly (Hazel-Dawn Dumpert)
Jam! Movies (Louis B. Hobson)
There really is enough material to fuel a soap opera, which is what How to Deal is -- only it's crammed into 100 minutes. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Jam! Movies (Louis B. Hobson)
Variety (David Rooney)
A bland romance that suffers from choppy development, dramatic overload and dearth of personality. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at Variety (David Rooney)
New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
Unlike pop rival Britney Spears, Moore does project star quality on the screen, but she gives Halley an edge of nastiness that makes her harder to empathize with than she should be. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (James Adams)
Just the umpteenth replay of the girl-meets-boy/boy-loses-girl/boy-gets-girl story. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (James Adams)
USA Today (Claudia Puig)
Moore and Ford rise above the hackneyed story, infusing the proceedings with their own chemistry and appeal. If only the adults responsible for this film could learn how to deal. ...read the complete How to Deal movie review at USA Today (Claudia Puig)
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