Review
HOW TO DEAL
Starring Mandy Moore and Trent Ford
Directed by Clare Kilner
Opens Friday, July 18
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Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? Unfortunately, for most of us, this happens to be the so-called "heavy-hitting" issue tackled in How To Deal, the latest vehicle for cross-branding pop princess Mandy Moore (Princess Diaries).
How To Deal, directed by Clare Kilner (Janice Beard: 45WPM), is based on a Sarah Dessen novel and was adapted by MTV pop-fictionist Neena Beber (Daria). While not as bad as one might have expected, the film does end up missing its mark and one can’t help but feel that it is trying far too hard to be something it’s not.
The story centers around Halley (Moore), a jaded and bitter young lady who has lost her faith in love, due in no small part to the relationships of the people she’s surrounded by. There’s her recently divorced parents, each dealing with it in their own misguided ways; her sister, who is trying to plan a wedding in between fights with her fiancé; her best friend, who falls in love with a boy only to see him croak; and last but not least, her pot-smoking grandma.
Halley then meets Macon (Trent Ford), the nice guy, and they immediately hit it off. But as the two become friends and Halley grows closer and closer to Macon, her head begins to disagree with her heart – and thus we have our conflict.
The problem with Kilner’s film is that it never feels quite comfortable with itself. By supplying us with overly eccentric characters and a protagonist who is not only is bitter and jaded towards love but has outright rejected the whole concept of it, Kilner attempts to distinguish her film from the slew of formulaic romantic comedies destined for the big screen each summer.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m the last person to condemn a filmmaker pushing for originality, but the problem lies in the fact that Kilner doesn’t commit. Her attempt to breathe an offbeat comedic life into the film falls short, and Moore is simply far too cute and lacks the range required to pull off the darker elements of her character. For example, the chronic-addicted grandmother, which admittedly sounds funny, comes off feeling like some second-rate joke found at a Farrelly brothers’ garage sale.
Yet there is still plenty of the conventional romantic comedy fluff that we’ve all come to know and love. There’s the musical montage depicting the developing relationship and connection between boy and girl, and even the mandatory embrace-in-the-rain sequence. One can’t help but think Kilner would have been far better off had she just stuck to a formula because, when done right, they can succeed in stirring emotions within even the most bitter and jaded among us – unlike this film.
That being said, the film still has its moments – most notably the abrupt and seemingly random use of the humping dog gag, which, I dare say, will never grow old. And despite having to fight a hangover of stampede proportions, I had no complaints about having to sit and watch Moore go through the motions for 90 minutes. |
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