April Burns (Holmes) is a 21-year-old wild child with a very big problem. Against her better judgment, she’s invited her straightlaced family for Thanksgiving dinner. Her boyfriend, Bobby, wants to help, but she banishes him from the apartment while she attempts to cook the meal. To make matters worse, she then discovers that her oven doesn’t work. So, while April is forced to ask her eccentric neighbors for help in cooking her fifteen pound turkey, the Burns Family begins a reluctant journey from suburban Pennsylvania toward New York City’s Lower East Side. April’s Dad, Jim Burns (Platt) tries to convince the family that the day will be beautiful. Her mom, Joy (Clarkson) has her doubts and freely voices them. April’s teenage sister and brother are squeezed between Grandma Dottie and a bag of snacks in the back seat as the Burns’ family car hurtles toward Manhattan and what will most likely be certain disaster.