Parents' Guide to How to Deal with a Heartbreak

Nothing much happens in How to Deal with a Heartbreak. The characters are nice enough. It's always fun to see good friends support each other and to see models of functional nuclear families in which parents love and support their child and the child does the same for the parents. But there isn't otherwise a lot going on to keep one's interest. The biggest conflict here is how Maria Fe can get herself back in the writing groove and produce a whole new book in three months. (Her first book is referred to throughout the movie only as Soltera Codiciada. Only Spanish speakers will know that translates to "Coveted Single.") Seemingly with the support of her dead father's ever-present friendly ghost, she somehow manages to meet her deadline, but the way this story is constructed, we have absolutely no stake in whether she succeeds or not. What is the book about? Maybe about hooking up with her teenage crush? If yes, then so what?

These questions seem so unimportant that the filmmakers ignore them, so probably the ideal audience for this will ignore all that, too. The rest of us inquiring minds will remain in the dark. The ending feels abrupt. At that point, we haven't learned much more about the characters than we knew 20 minutes into the action. It's that kind of movie.