John Candy stars in this comedy written and directed by John Hughes. When Bob and Cindy Russell (Garrett M. Brown and Elaine Bromka) are forced to call upon Bob's unreliable brother Buck (Candy) to look after their three children after Cindy's father has a heart attack, they fear the worst.

Despite his lack of childcare skills, Buck succeeds in befriending his young nephew Miles (Macaulay Culkin) and niece Maizy (Gaby Hoffmann), but his escalating feud with his teenaged niece Tia (Jean Louisa Kelly) soon threatens his relationship with his long-suffering girlfriend Chanice (Amy Madigan), who has almost given up hope that Buck will one day overcome his irresponsible ways and settle down.