Family Plan (1997 film)
| Family Plan | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Fred Gerber |
| Written by | Paul Bernbaum |
| Produced by | Paul Bernbaum Abby Singer |
| Starring | Leslie Nielsen Judge Reinhold |
| Cinematography | John Fleckenstein |
| Edited by | David Rawlins George Roulston |
| Music by | Lee Holdridge |
| Distributed by | Initial Entertainment Group[1] |
Release date | May 30, 1997 |
Running time | 95 Minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Family Plan is a 1997 American comedy film directed by Fred Gerber. It stars Leslie Nielsen and Judge Reinhold.[2][3][4][5][6] It is the second movie in which Nielsen portrayed Harry Haber, the first being Rent-a-Kid.
Plot
Saul Reubens, an old millionaire (Harry Morgan) has died and left everything to his niece Julie (Emily Procter), including a children's summer camp "Camp Sedona". Julie's fiancé Jeffrey (Judge Reinhold) wants to sell this camp to rich investors, so he transforms the camp into an adult health resort, "Chez Sedona", without telling Julie and invites investors to take a rest there.
At the same time Harry Haber (Leslie Nielsen), after a misunderstanding about a scheduling conflict, plans to take up the children from the Mid Valley Children's Home, run by his son Cliff (Tony Rosato) to the now-adult health resort.
Meanwhile, Alec and Eli Mackenzie, two brothers who recently came to the home after losing their dad in a car accident, are trying to find their biological mother. According to their case, their mother lives in Phoenix, Arizona, not far from Camp Sedona. The two brothers plan to run away while at the camp to find their mother, but right before all the children go to camp, Alec (Trevor Morgan) is busted for some tricks by Cliff and is grounded – he isn't going to camp.
Eli (Zachary Browne) helps Alec to get to the camp inside of a big bag with clothes; now he is secretly there without permission. But he can still have fun with the adult investors.
Various shenanigans are done by the kids and other members of the camp much to the frustration of Jeffrey, whose investors are not fond of kids (one time going so far as to hide insects in guests' food). Another incident involves the filming of a sleeping woman through her bedroom window. After being caught they flee and while hiding, record a conversation between Jeffery and an investor. In the midst of this, Julie reconnects with her childhood friend, camp director Matt (Eddie Bowz).
Alec is caught after climbing a dangerous cliff to retrieve his toy plane, causing other kids to go get the adults. Matt ends up saving Alec from falling. Unfortunately, this also means Alec is revealed to have run away from camp.
Before movie night Jeffery shows Julie his "sensitive side" in a desperate ploy to get her to sell the camp. Unfortunately for him, Harry had come across the recording the boys made earlier and puts it in the TV for everyone to watch. The woman who was filmed sleeping storms off and Jeffery pauses the movie several times but each time Harry resumes it ensuring they get to the part of Jeffery's conversation. This causes Julie to declare the camp not for sale, dump Jeffery, and then punch him.
With Cliff on his way to camp to pick up Alec, the boys realize that they have to run away that night. They leave in the middle of the movie and stow away in a catering service's van heading to Phoenix. Julie and Matt go after them by car but don't beat them to the catering company's building. While Julie and Matt look for the brothers in the van, they get in Julie's car to look at a map during which they answer a phone call from Harry who they somewhat nonsensically tell, "Sorry, wrong number." Slightly puzzled Harry tells the principle there is no answer.
Julie and Matt get back into the car while unbeknownst to them the brothers hide in the back. The principle tells Julie and Matt on the phone to head to the address of the kids' mom and Harry somewhat cryptically adds they shouldn't "Say anything they wouldn't normally say in the presence of uh small people." Harry assures the principle that Eli and Alec are in good hands.
Julie and Matt head to the address and the brothers jump out of the car and run to the door. Unfortunately, there are new owners at the address who don't know the previous owners, sadly leaving Eli and Alec no closer to finding their mom. Julie and Matt take the boys back to the camp.
After returning the boys back to their cabin, Matt meets with Harry outside the manager's cabin, telling him that he wants to adopt Eli and Alec, whom he had grown very fond of. Just then, Cliff and Julie come out of the cabin, having overheard the conversation. Matt finds out Julie also wants to adopt the boys too. Realizing he is also ready for a commitment to Julie, he proposes to her and she accepts.
Cast
- Leslie Nielsen as Harry Haber
- Judge Reinhold as Jeffrey Chase
- Eddie Bowz as Matt Nolan
- Emily Procter as Julie Rubins
- Tony Rosato as Cliff Haber
- Bill LeVasseur as Head Camp Counselor
- Zachary Browne as Eli Mackenzie
- Trevor Morgan as Alec Mackenzie
- Harry Morgan as Sol Rubins
References
- ^ Hindes, Andrew (29 January 1997). "Initial Ent. Adds". Variety. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
- ^ Lavin, Cheryl (15 March 1998). "Judge Reinhold". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ Richmond, Ray (28 April 1998). "Telepix run in Fox Family". Variety. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ Staff (30 May 1999). "PICKS OF THE WEEK". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ "Showtime airs smart films about 1925 trial, Ayn Rand". South Coast Today. 29 May 1999. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ Parkyn, John (22 February 1998). "Name Dropping". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
