Customer Reviews

How to Deal (Widescreen Sub AC3 Dol Dts)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

When I first heard that HOW TO DEAL was a combination of two of Sarah Dessen's books, I was skeptical. I love Dessen's books, and thought that making a movie out of one of the books would be a disaster, let alone combining two. Boy was I wrong! HOW TO DEAL is a great teen movie.

Halley isn't sure what to believe...her life is incredibly messed up at the moment, and everthing keeps getting crazier. The day her parent's divorce comes through, her sister announces her engagement. Of course Halley doesn't like her future brother-in-law, and she runs to her best friend Scarlett for help. Except, Scarlett doesn't have the same opinion about love. She's fallen head over heels for Michael, a cute, athletic boy. In fact, Halley meets him when she walks in on him and Scarlett...professing their love for eachother.

Of course, tragedy strikes soon, and - once again - Halley's life has taken another turn. She meets Macon, token bad boy, and they start hanging out...Scarlett doesn't know what to think when she finds out that she's pregnant, Halley's mom thinks all men are horrible, Halley's dad's getting remarried to "The Bimbo," and Halley's sister is about to get married.

HOW TO DEAL is such a cute teen movie, I can't say enough to justify the movie. It's not realistic, it's predictable, it's cheesy - but somehow it's still fun. HOW TO DEAL is recommended to any teenage girls that loved movies like 10 Things I Hate About You, A Walk to Remember, and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.

Overall grade - A

How to Deal! It's a perfect movie for anyone who's having trouble dealing with lifes twists and turns. The first time you watch it you'll be ongoingly saying.. "Oh My God! I can totally relate to that!" You'll fall in love with the movie. Mandy and Trent's personalities mix so well. It's a fun film!

Mandy Moore shines as Haley - a teenage girl who has been through the worst year imaginable. After watching her parents go through a divorce, she swears off falling in love forever. So, naturally, she meets the greatest guy in movieland who does everything to try to convince her that her preconceived notions of love are all wrong.
It's a really good, heartwarming, charming story. If you don't already love Mandy Moore, you will after watching this movie. She's so cute, so honest, and a really great actress. It's a good story with a great cast. Recommended.

This movie is one of my favorites! Mandy Moore did a great job. I read the two books it's based on before hand and I have to say I like the books better (Someone Like being my favorite of the two), and I was a little skeptical on how the movie would turn out, being that both books have absolutely nothing in common. But it was a lot better than I thought it would be. At sometimes its was a little jam packed with problems, but it was still great! I recommend reading the books first. If you watch the movie first, the book won't give off as much of a dramatic feel as it could because you already know what's going to happen. Other than that, go buy the movie!

How to deal is the best teen movie ever!! Its not like any other movie where the princess falls for the prince its different which makes it more original!

I love this movie! It was good and the characters seemed real (its hard to explain).And this movie at the end,made my love of books now.At the end it has those talk about books and teen reading and it gave a lot of good books that now I can't stop reading over and over again.So thanks to this book I see why a lot of people enjoy reading.

I think that this was a a well-done movie. The dialogue was realistic, the acting good, but most importantly, the emotions felt true. Even if YOU find Macon irritating (and most objective people would to some extent), you can still completely understand why Hally would fall for him. The characters ring true.

Morally, the movie is pretty moderate. Movies that try to change the reality that teenagers have sex never feel true and never break your heart the way your heart used to break when you yourself were a teenager. The movie does not judge teen sex. It takes an objective viewpoint on it, never commenting. Conservatives would say that the fact that teenagers were even portrayed as being sexually active without there being a strong message of disaproval is immoral. Progressives would argue that Hally's friend's pregnancy is an extremely realistic warning against sex and that the movie does it's audience just as much of a disservice by never mentioning birth control or condoms once in the movie.

Do I wish that certain things were different? Certainly. I think the last shot of the movie is really unrealistic, with practically every character in the movie peeking through the glass. I kind-of wish that Macon and Hally didn't get together in the end so that the movie could have made a stronger statement, but this is a Hollywood movie, not an independant film. The movie aims to please, and it does. Don't let your moral beliefs either way completely cloud your judgement about one of the best teen flicks out there.

Usually I enjoy teen movies, but "How to Deal" was pretty horrible. The acting and lines were very cheesy, and everything happens so abruptly in the beginning of the movie. You never really get time to connect with any of the characters. Mandy Moore may be somewhat likeable, but her love interest in the movie, Macon, is so annoying that it makes the movie completely unwatchable. I wasn't rooting for them to get together because he just seems obnoxious. If you want good teen comedy, there's lot of other options out there. I would suggest skipping this movie.

Ratings:
Acting: Excellent in both Mandy, her boyfriend & mother
Plot: Weak
Script: Terrible
Morals: Even Worse
Editing: Choppy and low-budget

After such an uplifting movie in "A Walk to Remember", I decided to give this a try. Mandy Moore had such a persona that I believed she could morally pull through some of the things I saw in the trailer.

But no morals were displayed here.

Grandma smokes pot only as a comedic insert. No real understanding of why she would qualify for medical marijuana.

Mom is sleeping with an apparently 'nice guy' who she went on one date with.

There are many moments where they apparently didn't take enough footage to make smooth editing and some moments where even Mandy's acting seems clumsy. Many contrived moments borrowed from other movies (like trying to eat a cornish game hen and the future Brother-in-laws parents are horrified when it falls in her lap.) We're not horrified, just bored.

And Mandy falls for a guy who has nothing to show for himself. She wants to have sex with him for the heck of it. But then when the fairly explicit (but no nudity) love scene she decides not to go through with it and runs away. Her reason?

Think of all the reasons teens should not have sex:
It's morally wrong to have premarital sex.
She could get pregnant.
Sex means a commitment she's not ready to make.
She's giving up her precious virginity in a bedroom at a party.
etc.

No. The reason she doesn't do it is because she was afraid she loved him too much.

HUH?!

There's nothing to convince us that she even loves him. Some genuine affection does shine through, and eventually the actor's charm shines through the "loser" character, but there is no positive message to take from it.

All I can say is. Be afraid of this movie. Very, very afraid. BOO on Mandy for letting down her viewing public when she's one of the few teen actors who could stand for some kind of morals.

In this movie, we're expecting her to come to some moral conclusion, some moment of understanding or growth. But it's just not there.

I hope Mandy will not continue to disappoint by choosing this kind of slosh that should be thrown in the heap of Hollywood refuse. She is beautiful in this movie and her acting is excellent. There is so much promise!

i really disliked this movie. i read one of the books it was based on (it was based on two) and it was nothing like the book. i hated this movie and i think that it sends a bad message out to girls. it makes it seem like it is ok to have a boyfriend that treats you poorly. i love mandy moore, but this was a horrible movie.. yuck.