A stockbroker in a small southern town gets embroiled in an insurance scam with a next-door neighbor that leads to multiple murders when a host of other people want in on the plot. Sheriff Thurmond Fowler, the by-the-book town sheriff for over four decades, works earnestly to try and unravel the town’s mystery and winds up getting more than he bargained for.

The story of a mild-mannered radio executive (Ferrell) who strives to become the best stepdad ever to his wife's two children, but complications ensue when their freewheeling, freeloading real father arrives, forcing stepdad to compete for the affection of the kids.