With their daughter Ren having graduated from
junior high and their son Donnie soon leaving for college, Steve and Eileen Stevens want the family to all spend a memorable summer vacation together, though their youngest son Louis is happy to spend it lounging. Ren's aloof boyfriend Gill breaks up with her; to distract herself from the heartbreak, she accepts a job babysitting Bernard "Beans" Aranguren, who moves in with the family while his parents are away in
Helsinki. Miles McDermott, a man claiming to be from the state department, visits the Stevens family and informs them they have won a trip to the South Pacific island of Mandelino, where they will serve as goodwill ambassadors. With all except Louis excited by the prospect, the family and Beans fly out to Mandelino. Though the locals welcome them at first, Louis accidentally destroys the island's sacred palace, and the locals shun them. Facing a weeklong wait before they can return home, tensions start to rise within the group. Unbeknownst to them, this is by design: they are in fact on a
reality TV series called
Family Fakeout, hosted by Miles, who is determined to make the show a success after being ousted as producer of another hidden camera show called
Gotcha! Miles creates more tensions within the family, which splits into two factions: Steve, Ren and Beans vs. Eileen, Donnie and Louis. Ren seeks solace with Jason, an actor playing a local called Mootai, who is told to romance her to boost ratings. Louis's friend Alan Twitty, who informed the production about the Stevens, is overcome with guilt after seeing how they are treated. After he and Louis's girlfriend Tawny Dean learn the family is actually on nearby Catalona Island (named for the real-life
Santa Catalina Island), they sail out to rescue them. Shortly after arriving, they are separated and Twitty is intercepted by the show's security, but escapes by posing as an actor. Jason breaks character and almost tells Ren the truth but is stopped by other native actors; Miles has them tell Ren that Louis informed them about her and Mootai, which sees Ren vowing vengeance on her brother. Twitty cuts the live feed, and while technicians work to get it running again, he and Tawny find the family and tell them the truth. When the feed comes back, an enraged Ren begins pursuing Louis, threatening to kill him. She corners Louis on a cliff, and despite pleas to stop from the family and Miles, who confesses the truth, she pushes Louis off the edge. As Miles breaks down in guilt, Lance LeBow, the host of
Gotcha!, appears in a helicopter with Louis safely in tow. While the feed was out, the family planned the prank to get back at Miles, ending his show and career in the process. Louis tells Ren that while he may play pranks on her, he would never do anything to hurt her. Jason apologizes to Ren for leading her on and confesses that his feelings for her were real. The family returns home to
Sacramento, where Ren and Jason begin a relationship, Donnie goes to college, Steve accepts a new job and Louis goes back to lounging with Tawny. ==Cast==