How to Deal
New Line Cinema | Release Date: July 18, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
15
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Moore makes Halley's awakening organic and touching. In an age when most teenagers are up to their eyeballs in postmodern consumer glitz, her movies seem radical not just in their retro squareness but in their unfashionable embrace of faith over ironic flippancy. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneEllen Fox
This is a movie whose title promises to show teenage viewers how to cope with the messed-up, grown-up world they are entering, not how to make it perfect -- or even how to make sense of it. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
There's pleasure to be had in a film that suggests teen life can be hard without necessarily being tragic. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
There's a surprising intelligence and gravity working beneath its bubbly surface, informed by an unusual degree of empathy for its adolescent audience and a rare willingness to confront the darker regions of youth experience. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Janney's role is smaller than Moore's, but it's hardly insignificant. Moore has youth on her side, and youth is timelessly appealing. But Janney is the bigger, more memorable presence, and she's much more fun to watch. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Isn't that good. But Moore is. Read full review
63
PremiereAlexis Mersel
The handful of comic moments will serve up a few good laughs. Read full review
60
Village VoiceLaura Sinagra
As Mom, Allison Janney easily dominates every scene she graces, as does Morning Zoo jock papa Peter Gallagher. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Works up some genuine emotion offset by occasional humor and creates individuals of a certain degree of complexity, but the film is glazed over with an aura of artificiality. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
Competently if unremarkably directed by Englishwoman Clare Kilner, should prove compelling enough to Moore's huge legion of fans. Read full review
50
New York PostJonathan Foreman
The sad truth is that TV series like "Dawson's Creek" do a better job with precocious teen dialogue. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Director Claire Kilner and screenwriter Neena Beber don't walk the tightrope between comedy and drama skillfully enough to make either aspect work as well as it should. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The pop diva goes down with the bubbles in this hopelessly shallow soap opera. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
A thoughtful but uneven teen picture, also has too much going on. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Mostly honest in its portrayal of teen sexuality -- it exists, whether we like it or not -- but also offers up the troubling notion of teen pregnancy as romantic and magical. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I watched the movie with interest, yes, but not emotional involvement, and my appreciation of Moore was based more on her essence than on her character. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Disposable teen romance. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
It’s just too much drama for one modest film to service adequately. In an effort to cram it all in, scenes abruptly jump from one to the next with nary a smooth transition in sight, relationships evolve far too quickly, and certain subplots drop out of the mix only to resurface, jarringly, much later. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
This movie is the worst episode of ''Gilmore Girls'' ever. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
Kilner and crew cough up a mish-mash of contrasting tones and tempos and wind up a rather odd, misshapen curiosity that wavers into too many styles to avoid a slow death by overkill. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn Dumpert
How much can one girl grapple with over the course of an hour and a half? Read full review
40
VarietyDavid Rooney
A bland romance that suffers from choppy development, dramatic overload and dearth of personality. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Moore and Ford rise above the hackneyed story, infusing the proceedings with their own chemistry and appeal. If only the adults responsible for this film could learn how to deal. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)James Adams
Just the umpteenth replay of the girl-meets-boy/boy-loses-girl/boy-gets-girl story. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Unlike pop rival Britney Spears, Moore does project star quality on the screen, but she gives Halley an edge of nastiness that makes her harder to empathize with than she should be. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Another soundtrack-driven, disposable, not entirely objectionable teen movie. Read full review
25
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Embodies all that's wrong with the sellout culture of Hollywood. Read full review
20
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A bad, unimaginative story posing pretentiously as the very opposite. Read full review
20
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
To call this scattered and cliché-ridden film less-than-cohesive would be generous, and Moore lacks the ability to imbue hackneyed dialogue with resonance. Read full review
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