2003 television film by Sean McNamara
The Even Stevens Movie is a 2003 American Disney Channel Original Movie that is based on the Disney Channel Original Series Even Stevens. It premiered on June 13, 2003, serving as the series finale. The movie drew an audience of 5.1 million viewers.[1]
Plot
A mysterious man sorts through pictures of random families on a computer until he chooses the Stevens family. Meanwhile, Louis Stevens interrupts his older sister Ren's junior high graduation with a remote-controlled beachball meant to be full of confetti, unaware that his sidekick Beans has filled it with spaghetti, which spills on the school's gym teacher Coach Tugnut as the beachball explodes. The next day, Ren's aloof boyfriend Gil breaks up with her after taking a summer camp counselor job in Maine. She takes a job babysitting Beans get her mind off of him. After Ren and Louis get into a fight involving both the graduation and Louis' newest contraption (a modified lounge chair entitled the "Ultra Lounge-matic Super Chair") and accidentally hurt the mysterious man from the beginning, who introduces himself as Miles McDermott, he talks the Stevens family and Beans into going on a vacation, which is secretly the set of a new reality TV show called Family Fakeout. It is set on the fictional island of Mandelino, which in reality is Catalona, only a short distance off the California coast. Miles expresses resentment after he was fired from another, more popular reality show called Gotcha!.
The family is enthusiastically welcomed by a large ensemble of actors portraying island natives, but Louis accidentally destroys the sacred palace the family was meant to spend their vacation in, making the "natives" shun them. The family separates into two groups pitted against each other. Both groups encounter various situations, such as facing starvation and a "killer squirrel." Ren seeks solace with a native named Mootai and they fall in love. Mootai is actually an actor named Jason who is supposed to romance Ren merely to boost ratings, but he is genuinely interested in her, and can't bring himself to break up with her when he is scripted to do so. Just before he's about to reveal the truth, the "native" actors improvise and kidnap Jason and claim Louis sold them out, leaving Ren vengeful.
Louis' best friend Twitty and girlfriend Tawny come to the island to rescue them - Twitty expresses regret for notifying Miles and setting the Stevens family up. He is caught by the show's staff, but he escapes and shuts down the equipment monitoring the Stevens groups. Louis and Ren's older brother Donnie finds Tawny, and the reunited family learns the truth. They join Twitty and Tawny to stop Ren from killing Louis. Ren corners him on a cliff, and despite the protests of the family and Miles, who tells her the truth, she pushes Louis off to his apparent death, much to the viewers' and Miles' horror.
As Miles breaks down in guilt, a helicopter appears with Louis safely in tow and Lance LeBow, the host of Gotcha!. The Stevens family had planned this charade to get back at Miles. Lance informs Miles that he is no longer a host of his own show because of his torments. After sharing a laugh, the family chases Miles away.
Louis tells Ren that, though he loves playing pranks on her, he would never do anything to hurt her. He then suggests she start a relationship with Jason back on the mainland. Jason apologizes to Ren for stringing her along, but she forgives him, understanding it was his job as an actor. Jason confesses that his feelings for her were real. After the family returns home, Beans (in a voiceover) gives a closing narration: Donnie started college, Mr. Stevens got a big job offer, Louis and Tawny are seen lounging on Louis' modified lounge chair (which needs more improvements), and both Ren and Jason officially became a couple and are inseparable. Beans then pops up to disrupt the Stephens dinner, leading to Ren and Louis argue about who let Beans in the house. The film ends with The Twitty-Stevens Connection singing "Dream Vacation" to clips from the movie and the cast joking around.
Reception
The Even Stevens Movie was the most-watched cable program on June 13, 2003, including dominating among children ages 6–11 and tweens 9–14, and drawing 5.1 million total viewers.[2]
