Izzy is very interested in comedy, perhaps because her own life is anything but humorous. Her parents are divorced, and she rarely sees her father, who lives a distance away and is busy with his new wife. Her mother is a bit stressed, and dating Izzy's dentist, Dr. Gustino! Her Uncle Henderson and young cousin Oliver are living with her after the death of her aunt by suicide. Her uncle, a musician, can barely get out of bed, and Oliver misses both of his parents and acts out frequently. When Dr. Gustino must travel to be with his mother, who has fallen, his son, Ben, ends up staying at Izzy's house as well. Ben can't be left alone because he is angry that his mother left the family to move to California, and has been spending a lot of time with his Uncle Steve. Steve is a "bad influence" who works in an auto body shop, may smoke marijuana, and has taken underage Ben to get three different tattoos! Fortunately, Oliver takes to Ben and Ben responds well to the attention, spending time with the younger boy. When Uncle Henderson goes missing and hasn't told anyone, Oliver is beside himself. Izzy's mother is worried but doesn't have time to go look for him, so Ben and Izzy decide to run away with Oliver and look for him themselves. They assemble some money and supplies, hitchhike, "borrow" a car from Uncle Steve, and run into a number of typical road trip problems. Will their guess about Henderson's location be correct, and even if they find him, will it improve Oliver's life?