Adopted as a child, new dad Mel Colpin (Ben Stiller) determines they cannot name his son until he knows his birth parents, also determines to earn a crosscountry search to locate them. Founded by his wife, Nancy (Patricia Arquette), and an inept nonetheless gorgeous entry broker, Tina (Tea Leoni), he departs on a heroic roadtrip that quickly devolves to a farce of mistaken identities, wrong turns, and overzealous and love-struck ATF agents (Josh Brolin, Richard Jenkins).