How to Deal (2003) Trent Ford Macon Peter Gallagher Len Martin Allison Janney Lydia Martin Mary Catherine Garrison Ashley Martin Mackenzie Astin Lewis Connie Ray Marion Dylan Baker Steve Nina Foch Grandma Halley Andrew Gillies Buck Warsher Alexandra Holden Scarlett Smith Ray Kahnert Donald Sherwood Bill Lake (II) Ed Alison MacLeod Sharon Sherwood Mandy Moore Halley Martin Sonja Smits Carol Warsher Charlotte Sullivan Elizabeth Gunderson John White (VI) Michael Sherwood Philip Akin Mr. Bowden Gabrielle Ashry Dixie Cup Girl Darrin Brown Steely Dan Fan Laura Catalano (II) Lorna Queen Directed by: Clare Kilner Produced by: Scott Kroopf, Chris Van Allsburg, Ted Field Teen idol Mandy Moore (A Walk to Remember) learns how to deal with an awful lot--How to Deal crams divorce, teen pregnancy, a wedding, a car accident, and a pot-smoking grandmother into a single year in the life of Halley Martin (Moore). Halley's so resentful of her parents' divorce (and her father's impending remarriage) that she resolves not to fall in love--so of course a hunky guy named Macon (Trent Ford) decides that she's the girl for him and woos her with gentle persistence. Two things save all of this from being a teenage soap opera: First, a refreshingly realistic (though not explicit) and unjudgmental look at teenage sex; second, a sterling supporting cast, including Allison Janney (The West Wing), Peter Gallagher (sex, lies, and videotape), and Dylan Baker (Happiness), alongside pleasant young actors like Alexandra Holden (Sugar and Spice). ================== Sometimes life gets turned upside down. And maybe thatâ??s why it's so hard to believe that anyone, especially 17 year-old Halley Martin, could actually experience that thing called love. The people closest to Halley are in the midst of major upheavals in their love lives. Her mother, Lydia, is embittered by her recently finalized divorce. Her sister, Ashley, is marrying a guy with whom she is constantly fighting. Her best friend, Scarlett, can't keep her hands off of her first serious boyfriend. Most distressingly for Halley, her father, Len, who is a DJ at a local radio station, combats his midlife crisis with a stereotypically boyish elopement to the station's much-younger traffic reporter.So how's Halley supposed to deal? She isn't about to let herself succumb to the pipe dream of storybook romance, and Macon Forrester is the one guy who challenges her idea that love just complicates a perfectly good friendship. As Halley's life grows more and more complicated, she finds a friend in Macon, but when she feels herself falling for him, will Halley move beyond her fears and disappointments to experience real love?