How to Deal (2003)

Though it deserves credit for delving into the messier aspects of teen angst, popster Mandy Moore's second starring vehicle is as schizophrenic as the adolescent-girl mood swings it attempts to deconstruct. It becomes apparent early on that How to Deal's title is purely ironic, as Neena Beber's script -- adapted from not one but two young adult novels by Sarah Dessen -- finds most of the major characters avoiding major life crises with a cheery oblivion. There's just too much going on here for a 100-minute movie: Death, teen pregnancy, parental midlife crises, sibling nuptials, pot-smoking grandmas, and civil-war reenacting boyfriends all rear their ugly heads with alarming alacrity. How to Deal's slapdash editing, intrusive voice-over, and incessantly upbeat score don't help matters -- one gets the feeling that test audience/studio intervention won out over a more concise, emotionally resonant cut of the film. Certainly, the film is faultlessly performed: Allison Janney is warm and convincingly conflicted as the recent divorcée working out her own abandonment issues through her daughter, and the natural, understated Moore delivers on the promise she showed in the nerdy A Walk to Remember. Balancing humor with pathos is no easy task -- especially for a teen movie -- but week after week, TV's My So-Called Life accomplished just that, making How to Deal's missteps seem even more disappointing. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide