Would-be painter Gertrude 'Trudie' Chandler loses her waitress job and boyfriend Nick on Christmas Eve - her only shot not to feel like her family's black sheep. To replace the ideal son-in-law with even hunkier dream-prince, David Martin, she kidnaps him at gunpoint to attend the family holidays in a secluded luxurious log cabin. Crazy lies prevent David from convincing the Chandler family he's not Nick and from escaping. After finally passing a rescue call to his spoiled fiancée, David decides to play the perfect catch to make her undoing worse. Before the police rescue him, he and the family realize they adore each other, the others all prove imperfect, and David and Trudy reassess their relationship after getting to know each other.