AGW Entertainment reporter Lynn B. saw a new romantic drama film.

HOW TO DEAL

New Line Pictures

Mandy Moore showed us that she can play a dying teen in A Walk to Remember. Now the singer/actress teams with hottie Trent Ford in How to Deal, a film about a teen who swears off love because she's surrounded by dysfunctional love relationships..of course until a guy sets out to convince her otherwise.

Halley Martin (Mandy Moore) sees versions of love gone wrong everywhere she looks. Her dad, a super tacky DJ (Peter Gallagher) just divorced Halley's bitter mom (Allison Janney) for a younger woman. Her older sis (Mary Catherine Garrison) is overstressed over her upcoming wedding to a guy she can't stop fighting with. Halley's best gal pal (Alexandra Holden) with whom she made a pact never to fall in love, is sleeping with the first guy she dates. Halley feels betrayed and can't "deal".

Along comes hot but shaggy, kinda moody dude (Trent Ford) who is obviously romantically interested in her but Halley keeps pushing him away. Romance and love equal heartache and disappointment in her book. Will love win out? What do you think?

This romantic drama, based on two popular young adult novels by Sarah Dessen, tackles some serious subjects; teen pregnancy, early death, family disintegration, first love, etc. and that's a plus. Finally a teen-aimed film that isn't about turning a "plain Jane" into a hottie. Mandy is earnest enough as Halley and Trent Ford is weirdly attractive as the guy who won't be rejected no matter what she does. Allison Janney (from "The West Wing") is funny as Halley's mom as she takes out her anger on a salad and tries to play the dating game after a lot of years.

The problem with this film is that it doesn't know what it is. It is funny, a light teen love film and then suddenly it's thrown into sudden death. Members of my audience laughed when a character just falls over dead out of the blue. Of course, in real life things like that happen but, when we see it on screen, it seems unfocused and unreal. The dad character is way far over the top and mom and Halley's relationship isn't developed as much as I'd like. Nina Foch is funny as a pot-smoking grandma but it's little more than a caricature. A lot of the dialogue is sappy and hokey.. For instance when Halley has a car accident she says in her voice-over diary narration, "Some people fall in love. I had to crash into it". Groan.

The soundtrack is pretty rockin' and I'd give this one points for trying to tackle real life problems in a teen film and not being as "formula" as such films usually are, but take off points for sappy dialogue, a crazy mix of angst and humor and a slow moving pace. An okay gal pal film but you can also wait for the DVD.

Rated: PG-13

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