SYNOPSIS:

A Dramedy film about an overworked middle-aged ad campaigner, Andrew Blake, whose narcissistic boss and dysfunctional family life have stretched him far too thin. Andrew’s high-strung, zen-seeking second wife, Alicia, whose new-age values are sabotaged by her intermittent explosive behavior, has a blowout with Andrew’s eldest: Liz (a teenage drama queen whose only concern seems to be her social life) after finding her trying to sneak her boyfriend Todd into the house, at which point she decides to act on a suggestion made by her friend Susan that the Blakes take a family trip to the ocean in order to mend their dysfunction. Andrew, stressed out by pressures at work and realizing the severity of the division that’s grown between Alicia and the kids, agrees to the plan, and father, wife, daughter and the two youngest kids (Dylan, a moody preteen, and Maggie a stubborn and violent seven year old) set out. The fourteen-hour all day drive to the L.A. coast does not go quite as planned, as, trapped in the confined space of the vehicle, tensions rise. Things worsen when the car breaks down after being run off the road by a temperamental RV driver. The Blakes hike up the road to a small town for lunch and part ways as Andrew tries to find someone to fix their car and Alicia attempts to patch up some of the problems in her relationship with the kids. Her efforts backfire however, as Maggie and Dylan get into a spat, and Liz is wrapped up in other concerns about her seemingly disloyal boyfriend back home and wants nothing to do with Alicia. Dylan’s efforts to return a lost toy to a child in the restaurant are mistaken for theft, and Alicia gets pulled into a cat-fight with the baby’s mother while defending him. Andrew, after having found a way of getting back on the road, comes back just in time to break up the fight and get kicked out by the restaurant manager. The Blakes tow their car back into town to be fixed. Tensions ease somewhat as the Blake’s have a bonding moment down by the creek outside the mechanics, but conflict reaches a boiling point once they end up at a hotel part-way to their goal. Liz receives heartbreaking news from a rival at school and breaks-up with her self-proclaimed love, Todd, locking herself in the bathroom to cry. Meanwhile, Andrew’s plans to create a romantic evening for his wife are ruined by his discovery that his son, Dylan, is a shoplifter. Alicia gives up on trying to solve her family’s issues once she overhears her husband’s phone call with his boss where Andrew agrees to cut short his vacation to prepare for an important campaign meeting. Alicia takes off with the car, declaring the entire venture a failure. Her melt-down is averted by an empathetic cop she meets out on the road who advises her not to give up on her family just yet. Andrew, after a heartfelt discussion, manages to get Liz out of the bathroom, and he decides to finish their trek to the coast, despite the fact that it means he won’t get back in time for work Tuesday. On the beach, Andrew is reunited with Alicia and the two remember all the many reasons they fell in love in the first place. Meanwhile, the siblings make amends for the many wrongs they have committed against one another, and Liz discovers that Todd was not the cheater she believed him to be. Then, with their family finally healed, the Blakes return home where Andrew (a week late to work) stands up to his boss, and Alicia makes things right between herself and Liz by finally accepting Todd.