In this frequently comical road-movie, a second class crook finds himself saddled with his estranged children after his young daughter finds him and tells him that she and her brother are being abused in their foster home. Remembering that he himself was abused as a foster child, the criminal, in an uncharacteristically selfless moment, grabs the kids hits the road. They are pursued by both the cops and a determined investigative reporter preparing an expose of the foster care racket. Wherever they go crime and other troubles follow.