The trouble with the collection of summer romantic comedies to which How to Deal belongs is that they are not about anyone's real life, other than the same character types the filmmakers have seen on the screen in the same kinds of movies many times before. Here is the standard plot that contains the requisite wedding(s), unexpected death, unplanned pregnancy, quirky relatives and mediocre tension between the young romantic leads that leaves one generally unmoved.
If old Hollywood can be forgiven, or at least understood, for creating the standard fiction of a typical American family, who lives in a nice big house on a nice clean street, one longs for contemporary filmmakers who will reflect reality a little more accurately. The effort is here but the elements never quite come together. A light romance is by definition not populated by a tribe of dysfunctional folks a la Welcome to the Dollhouse, but it would surely be more refreshing to find some more complex people and be more interesting to boot.
How to Deal centers around high school student Halley Martin (Mandy Moore), not very convincingly sworn off love due to her parents' divorce and her sister's engagement to the son of old money snobs. Halley's Dad (Peter Gallagher), a local celeb DJ in his second childhood, is about to wed, very publicly, a much younger buxom blond. Her Mom (Allison Janney) is holding things together at the family home with her two daughters but her anger and hurt remain close to the surface. Halley's best friend, Scarlett, in spite of their mutual commitment not to let love rear its ugly head, has fallen head over heels for her new boyfriend. Enter Macon (Trent Ford), the boyfriend's best friend. Halley enjoys the offbeat and intelligent Macon in spite of herself and together they muddle forward toward young love. Although the performers try sincerely with the limited material, it is pretty much a yawn to watch a familiar story line, with slightly different packaging.
Visual interest comes from a scene with the grand backdrop of a local dam, and the opening shots signaling Halley's upside-down viewpoint as she stands on her head, looking too pretty and self-assured from the start to be believed as one who has no interest in love. Among kids not even old enough to have driver's licenses, the underlying assumption that she is already jaded in the search for true and lasting love is a bit inflated. The measured beat of pop songs separate the scenes and tell us what the characters are feeling. During her coming of age struggles, Halley doesn't seem to suffer any growing pains. She's pretty, slim, sexy, fun, loyal, loved and pursued. What's to deal with? Macon is more effective as a guy whose smooth composure on the outside masks his genuine insecurity and pain over loss. The decision about how to handle a teen pregnancy deserves more serious consideration than the lighthearted way the film tosses it off. The best bits come from the restrained performances of Janney and Gallagher, who keep their characters from falling into parody. The subplot around sister Ashley's engagement helps to provide a larger canvas on which is painted the bigger picture of multi-layered family drama, making it a little easier for the audience to deal.
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