Fred Savage, of Wonder Years fame, stars as Corey, the older brother of Jimmy Woods (Luke Edwards) who has been living in a special home for the past two years. Jimmy hasn’t acted “normal” in two years and says just two words: “California” and “Jennifer.” Their parents Sam (Beau Bridges) and Christine (Wendy Phillips) are divorced and their older brother Nick (Christian Slater) has taken to disobeying Sam regularly and drinking.
While everyone thought Jimmy might be getting better since living in a special home, things hit the breaking point when he (again) randomly walks out of the home and the police have to pick him up miles away on the highway. His stepfather talks of sending him to an institution, to which no one seems to care but Corey. This gives Corey the idea to break Jimmy out and embark on a random trip, just the two of them.
To Corey’s unknowing surprise, everyone is upset at the notion of the two traveling alone. Their mom hires a private investigator who specializes in finding child runaways. Their dad and older brother also set on their own quest to find the two boys, much to the annoyance of the private eye as they share more than a few run-ins.
Along the way, Corey discovers Jimmy is incredibly adept at playing video games, even though he’s never touched a controller before. Seeing this as his way to prove to everyone that Jimmy doesn’t need to be institutionalized, he sets on a journey to Video Armageddon, a video game tournament in Los Angeles, California with a grand prize of $50,000. On the road, they are aided by a young travel-smart-girl-who-knows-truckers named Haley (Jenny Lewis).
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