The Secret Diary of an Exchange Student
Businessman Tommy Ackerman's (Tommy Woodard) preoccupation with his job has interfered with his relationship with his wife, Grace (Leigh-Allyn Baker), and their two children, Hannah (Cece Kelly) and Henry (Jacob M Wade). Tommy pursuing a big client at Kapoor Capital. Tommy is the senior investment strategist for Wiley & Edmond. Grace insists the family attend Camp Katokwah, a church camp, located in the Ouachita National Forest. Tommy says that he is about to become partner at his real estate firm, but Grace is adamant that Tommy needs to invest in his family. Upon arrival, the Ackermans discover Tommy failed to complete their reservation for a cabin and they are assigned to share a yurt with the Sanders family, whose vehicle had earlier passed them aggressively in route to the camp. Joel (Robert Amaya) is the camp manager. Eddie Sanders (Eddie James) is an insecure, self-absorbed chiropractor who, along with his wife, Victoria (Gigi Orsillo), and their two children Eddie Jr. (Elias Kemuel) and Barb (Keslee Blalock), present themselves as the perfect family. To top it off, they are assigned a small cabin, with only 4 bunk beds (so some people have to sleep on the floor), and no air conditioning. Eddie decides to segregate the cabin by gender. The Sanders break into a group song on every occasion, eat really healthy and only vegetarian. Eddie saves Tommy's life when he starts choking on his food. Meanwhile, as Tommy is away, his rival at the firm Bramberger (Brandon Potter) is pretending to be Tommy and is trying to steal away Mr Kapoor, who is Tommy's client. Bramberger threatens not only to take away Tommy's client, but also his promotion at the firm. Tensions quickly rise, especially between Tommy and Eddie. The two families compete for the Camp Katokwah trophy, won by the Sanders the past two years. To win the cup, families have to participate in all events the entire week and have to score the greatest number of points. Meanwhile, Tommy and Grace continue to navigate through their difficulties caused by Tommy's job commitments. Grace says that she has been putting up with Tommy for 5 years and now wants to go to marriage counseling. Pastor Dave (Mark Christopher Lawrence) overhears the conversation and gives him a compass to help him navigate through his life. The first game is of bubble football. The Ackermans forfeit the game when Henry leaves the field in the middle of the match after being pushed around by Barb. Henry believes that anything he does is not good enough for Tommy. Their teenage daughter, Hannah, begins seeing a boy named Corbin, which concerns Grace. Henry, who randomly takes videos, records an argument between Eddie and Victoria, which Tommy later views inadvertently. It seems like Eddie calls the shots in the Sanders family, often overriding Victoria's feelings. As the competition gets more intense, Sanders are leading the scoreboard and the Ackermans are a close second. At the archery competition, Eddie is up against Tommy and Tommy wins after a very close fight. Eddie ignores Victoria's advice completely as she was counseling Eddie that he always shoots too much to the left. Tommy and Eddie join several other men from the camp on a hike to deepen their faith. The pair becomes separated from the group (as Eddie had to go to the bathroom) and eventually lost after Eddie's attempt to take a honeycomb result in a swarm of bees attacking both men. Eddie insists that he knows the way through the forest and urges Tommy to follow him. Searchers are unable to locate them, and Henry also becomes lost when he leaves camp to find his father. Victoria admits to Grace that her marriage is not as perfect as it seems, and it is falling apart. Victoria laments that she has no voice in her marriage and Eddie does not listen to her or care about her opinions. The differences between Tommy and Eddie come to a head when Eddie makes Tommy cross a lake. Eddie admits to eating Tommy's lunch from his backpack as he was low on his blood sugar. Tommy finds it strange that Eddie would have thermal blankets and even an anti-allergy shot in his backpack, but no maps or compass. Tommy gets irritated with Eddie's harmonica and throws it away, again leading to a fight. Eddie starts a fire which accidentally ends up burning all their clothes which were drying on a clothesline. However, they are forced to unite against a pair of failed reality television show hunters named Slim (Myke Holmes) and Beef (Weston Vrooman) who tie them up, believing they are thieves as both Tommy and Eddie were contemplating taking away their All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs). Eddie insults the pair, and they tie Eddie and Tommy to a tree and leave them after covering their rope with honey to attract insects. Tommy is livid at Eddie and insults his personality and his mannerisms and says that nobody likes to hear what Eddie has to say. Henry is located to Grace's delight, when he runs into Joel & his cook Cookie (Heather Land) who had gone into the National Park to rescue him. Hannah leaves Corbin when she realizes that all he wanted was to make out with her and when she resisted, he simply moved on. Tommy and Eddie finally escape (when the honey on the ropes attracts a badger who cuts through the ropes while sucking the honey out) and find the trail back to camp after stealing an ATV from Slim and Beef and setting their camp on fire. Tommy discovers Eddie had a compass and map and is furious when Eddie admits he got them lost intentionally in order for Victoria to appreciate him upon his return. The men return to camp but are estranged. Victoria tells Eddie that she needs her voice back in her marriage. During the ceremony which awards the Sanders with the camp trophy for another year, Eddie confesses his shortcomings in his marriage, and also apologizes to Tommy, giving him the trophy instead. Tommy forgives Eddie and renews his commitment to Grace that he will be a better husband. Slim and Beef fight over their last hot dog.
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