Their father, Mick Plumm (William Baldwin), is a recovering alcoholic and unemployed ex-boxer who believes Elliott's birth prevented him from going to the Olympic Games 12 years earlier.

Their mother, Roxie Plumm (Lisa Guerrero), is the only breadwinner in the family, and keeping her husband sober and attending to her job means she has little time for her children.

The three kids have to find the marionette before the two bumbling FBI agents, Hardigan (Peter Scolari) and Brinkman (Rick Overton) can do so.

Elliott, Haley, and Rocky's list of suspects include the local bully, a store clerk, and Happy Herb's wife Viv (Brenda Strong).

[6][7] A foreign film financing company agreed to provide financial backing for the picture, but pulled out just weeks after casting of the major leads was complete.

[8] Erickson pitched the final game of his baseball career at Yankee Stadium in New York City, boarded a plane, and was producing the film just days later.

[15] Nonetheless, the self-distribution strategy led several major motion picture companies to express interest in releasing the film on DVD.

The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "This family film is willing to tackle important issues such as burgeoning sexuality, alcoholism and a troubled home life but does so in a bland and unconvincing story.

[17] The Los Angeles Times called the film flawed, and placed the blame squarely on the screenplay for not knowing whether to depict a Disney-esque innocent adventure or a real world that confronted a teenager's emerging sexuality, a father's alcoholism, and the break-up of a marriage.

The newspaper felt the picture was "insulting to your child's intelligence, veer[ed] wildly between broad humor (and I should mention that there is literally not one funny scene in this whole movie), sugary nostalgia and the worst melodrama", and "fraught with leaden direction and horrible acting".

"Lenser Mark Vargo bathes the Montana locations in glorious natural light; Alan Muraoka's production design and Nola Roller's costumes mostly nail the 1968 aesthetic, but could have been even more consistent.