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Lost on the Way to Tallahassee (08/31/2007)

released: Aug 31, 2007

description: A family vacation from Maine to Tallahassee immediately goes awry when a gas station attendant improperly closes the gas tank, allowing fuel to spurt out. This causes the car to run out of gas in the middle of upstate New York. Although Tom volunteers to leave his wife Carol and daughter Tina to walk to the nearest gas station, a trucker pulls over and offers a ride to his next stop. The family settles in and naps, expecting to be dropped off somewhere along the East Coast. Tom is shocked to wake up and discover Harry has taken them to Toledo.

Harry drops them off at a diner he knows with the instructions to give his best to Mildred. Mildred, a waitress, is unimpressed at the family's connections. The family discusses what they should do now that they are considerably off course. A fellow diner overhears their conversation, introduces himself as Earl LaBrute, and offers his services. Carol, smitten, accepts on behalf of her family. Earl leads the family to his puddle jumper out back, and as they take off, discloses that he has this plane because he is a smuggler.

Tom is concerned by the unsafe (and illegal) turn his trip has taken, and his fears are validated when federal agents order Earl to bring the plane down. Earl refuses, and crashes the plane in Cuba to evade the agents. He takes off, and the family is now stranded in a foreign country.

Fidel Castro watches from the balcony of his mansion, and orders his assistant Elían Gonzalez to bring the family to him. He informs them that they have no choice to get back into the United States but to help him – and that involves smuggling his plans into the country. Faced with no other options, the family consumes the seventy-five pounds of mini hot dogs in which the plans are hidden and set off to the airport. As they leave, Castro informs them that along with the plans, one of them has consumed a bomb, which will be set off should the plans not be delivered in tact.

On the plane to the United States, Tom and Carol apologize to each other for the chaos their trip to Carol's parents has devolved into. They are overheard again by a familiar face – Earl LaBrute. As the plane lands, Tom privately tells Earl to stay far away from his family.

As he enters the Miami Airport, Tom finds himself unable to avoid the removal of the plans, and he is forcefully encouraged by Paolo, one of Castro's henchmen. Successfully rid of the plans, he looks for Carol and Tina, and finds them upset but safe. Together, the family goes to the rental Prius and finally heads towards Tallahassee.

On the road, Tina notices they are being trailed by a car marked only by American flag plates. Realizing what this means, Tom refuses to give in, and speeds towards Tallahassee anyway. The federal agents give chase, causing the rental Prius to crash into Mee Maw and Pop Pop's living room. Mee Maw is non-plussed and continues to be so even as federal agents burst into her home. The agents grab Tom and Pop Pop and demand the family surrender for aiding Castro. Tom refuses, and daringly turns the tables on the federal agents. He forces them into the hurricane cellar. The family is finally rid of their trouble and can enjoy their vacation in Tallahassee, despite the news that Castro has successfully taken over.

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