The Even Stevens Movie, on Disney Channel
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Caution: spoilers.

This first aired in 2003, and I'm fairly sure I saw it at that time. I'm watching it again in 2025 as part of my Summer of DCOMs. The movie served as the finale of the TV series Even Stevens. I don't recall how much I may have liked it the first time I saw it, but upon re-watch, I liked it more than I remember liking the series itself. It's still not great, but I found it entertaining enough that I might not mind giving the series another chance someday.

It begins with a mysterious man (played by Tim Meadows) narrowing down a search on his computer for the perfect family for... whatever he has planned. He finally arrives at the Stevens family.

The story then switches to a junior high school graduation, at which Ren gives a valedictory speech. Meanwhile, Louis and Beans play a prank on the ceremony. Later, Ren goes on a date with her boyfriend, Gill, who breaks up with her. The next day, Beans shows up at the Stevens's house, as Ren has agreed to babysit him for the afternoon. But it turns out his parents had gone away for two or three weeks, and she's expected to look after him that whole time. Meanwhile, Louis shows his friends the lounge chair he has invented to do pretty much everything for him so he can relax over summer break. Then the man from the opening scene shows up. His name is Miles McDermott, and he informs the Stevens family that they have been chosen to receive a free trip to a tropical island called Mandelino. Louis doesn't want to go, but everyone else does, so they do. But once they get there, even Louis begins to enjoy himself. And Ren meets a native named Mootai, who soon becomes a potential love interest.

While all the natives, led by Chief Tuka (Keone Young), are happy to cater to the Stevens family for awhile, that all changes when Louis accidentally destroys their palace. The family is forced to leave the natives' side of the island and try to make a shelter and take care of themselves until the next plane will arrive to take them home, which won't be for a week. Meanwhile, two sides of the family begin to turn on each other for various reasons, mostly Ren against Louis. And then, about halfway through the movie, it is revealed to the audience that the Stevenses are unwittingly being filmed for a new reality TV show called "Family Fakeout", of which Miles is the host and producer. And he does all he can to stoke the tension between the family members, while appearing to help them.

Meanwhile, back home, everyone in town is watching the show as it airs live each day. Most people are enjoying it, but Twitty feels guilty because he had given information about the family to Miles before he knew Miles was going to use that information to make the Stevenses miserable. When he and Tawny learn that the island is actually Catalona, just off the coast of their home in Sacramento, they get Tom to take them there on his boat so they can tell the Stevens family what's going on. But Tom leaves them to land on the island in his dingy, not wanting to risk crashing his boat on the rocky shore. When they get there, Tawny soon gets hit on the head by a coconut and passes out, only to wake up later with no memory of why she's there. And Twitty gets captured by the show's security team immediately.

Well, I guess I don't want to spoil any more of the plot. But of course the Stevenses do eventually learn the truth, and... they ultimately return home. Beans then narrates a bit about what happens subsequently to each of the characters. And then there's a song by Christy Carlson Romano (who plays Ren). Anyway, I thought it was a fun movie, if utterly ridiculous.