How to Deal

Infobox Film
name = How to Deal


caption =
director = Clare Kilner
writer = Sarah Dessen (novel)
Neena Beber
starring = Mandy Moore
Allison Janney
Trent Ford
producer = Erica Huggins
distributor = New Line Cinema (USA) Focus Features (International)
budget = US$16,000,000
released = 18 July 2003 (USA)
runtime = 101 min.
language = English
imdb_id = 0319524

"How to Deal" is a 2003 film directed by Clare Kilner. It is based on two novels by Sarah Dessen, "That Summer" and "Someone Like You".

Plot

Halley Marie Martin (Mandy Moore) is a seventeen-year-old high school student who is disillusioned with love after seeing many dysfunctional relationships around her. Her parents are now divorced and her father, Len Martin (Peter Gallagher), a radio talk show host, has a new young girlfriend that the entire family despises; mainly because she's the reason for the divorce. Her mother, Lydia (Allison Janney), is now always alone while her sister, Ashley, is so overwhelmed by her upcoming wedding that she barely exists in the house anymore. On top of that, the shallowness of all the girls and guys at her school convinces Halley that finding true love is impossible. When tragedy strikes, the life of her best friend changes forever - and suddenly Halley is drawn closer to a classmate named Macon.

When Halley walks in on her best friend Scarlett having sex with her boyfriend, the high school soccer champ, Michael Sherwood, Halley tries to warn her of the complications that lie ahead. Ignoring her advice, Scarlett embarks on a summer fling with Michael. In the meantime, Halley must deal with Ashley and the rest of the Martins must deal with her soon-to-be in-laws; Louis Worscher's overbearing Southern parents, who still have a maid, who just happens to be African-American.

In the meantime, Halley runs into classmate, Macon Forrester, a slacker who never shows up for biology and is more interested in having fun than school work. He is Michael Sherwood's best friend.

A few weeks later, Michael dies of a heart defect on the soccer field while Halley, Scarlett and other classmates watch helplessly. While Scarlett does her best to look beautiful for Michael at his funeral, Macon gives a moving speech about his friend. Struggling with Michael's death, Scarlett, at age sixteen, soon learns that she is pregnant with his child. The two girls hatch an escape plan that is ultimately foiled when Scarlett's mother (also Lydia's best friend) catches Halley trying to pull the car into the garage. With Halley at her side, Scarlett reveals the pregnancy to her mother.

Meanwhile, things go awry when Halley finds Ashley drunk on the family's front porch. Finding a male stripper's thong around her neck, Halley, who is recovering from a broken arm she got after a car accident with Macon on New Year's Eve, witnesses the break-up of her sister's engagement. She also learns that her mother sneaks out once a week to have sex with a man she met a couple of weeks previous, Steve. After another make-up, Lewis proposes to Ashley again, this time at a crowded airport; she says yes. Halley's father, Len Martin marries his mistress, Lorna, in a beach-side ceremony, with guests from all over the world...or "within his radio frequency" as Halley puts it.

In the end, Ashley and Lewis are married, as Lewis puts his foot down on the boundaries between his marriage to Ashley and his parents. Scarlett gives birth to a baby boy that she names Michael, and Halley and Macon agree to pursue their relationship again.

Main cast

*Mandy Moore – Halley Marie Martin
*Allison Janney – Lydia Williams Martin
*Trent Ford – Macon Forrester
*Alexandra Holden – Scarlett Smith
*Mary Garrison – Ashley Renee Martin
*Mackenzie Astin – Lewis Gibson Warsher II
*Peter Gallagher – Len Martin (uncredited)
*Connie Ray – Marion Smith
*John White – Michael Sherwood
*Nina Foch – Grandma Williams
*Dylan Baker – Steve Beckwith

oundtrack

Tracklisting

#"Billy S." - Skye Sweetnam
#"Do You Realize??" - The Flaming Lips
#"It's On The Rocks" - The Donnas
#"Why Can't I?" - Liz Phair
#"Wild World" - Beth Orton
#"Not Myself" - John Mayer
#"That's When I Love You" - Aslyn
#"Thinking About Tomorrow" - Beth Orton
#"Promise Ring" - Tremolo
#"Take The Long Road And Walk It" - The Music
#"Waves" - Marjorie Fair
#"Surrender" - Echo
#"Wild World" - Cat Stevens

Trivia

*The scenes were filmed at St. Timothy's Anglican Church in North Toronto, ON, Canada.
*Scenes were also shot in the Westdale Village, Westdale, Ontario in Hamilton, ON, Canada.
*Mandy Moore's house in the movie is shot on William Street, Oakville, Ontario
*Mandy Moore cut her hair short because she felt it suited the role; the movie producers weren't happy about it. In the end they compromised and had her wear hair extensions for some of the movie and later had her hair being cut on screen written into the script.

External links

* [http://www.howtodealmovie.com/ Official site]
*imdb title|id=0319524|title=How to Deal
* [http://www.moviehole.net/news/20030714_1957.html Mandy Moore interview for How To Deal]