Scooter (Peter Billingsley) is a teen from a wealthy Beverly Hills family. After his plastic surgeon father (Martin Sheen) remarries, Scooter is virtually ignored by his father and stepmother (Terry Moore (actress)), and treated badly by his two other spoiled siblings, Sterling (Ramon Estevez) and Tiffany (Cathy Podewell). Scooter devises a plan to fake his own kidnapping to get his parents' attention and enlists the help of two bumbling crooks, Clive (Burt Young) and Elmo (George Kirby). After Scooter is "kidnapped" and a ransom is demanded, he quickly realizes that his plan failed to work and his parents don't miss him.