Man With a Plan – A Dinner Gone Wrong

By: Julie Mante

At work Adam Burns (Matt LeBlanc) and his brother Don (Kevin Nealon) are excited about their upcoming Las Vegas trip with their wives. The trip has been in the works for three years, but something always prevents the foursome from going. The brothers are determined not to let that happen this year. When Adam arrives home, his wife Andi (Liza Snyder) tells him that their son Teddy (Matthew McCann) was not invited to his classmate Chad’s birthday party. Andi is worried that Teddy’s feelings have been hurt so she and Adam go find him to talk to him. It seems Teddy could care less about Chad’s party because he has made friends online. This news is not comforting to his parents.

When Adam and Andi have dinner with Don and Marcy (Kali Rocha), things are off to a good start. They are all excited about the Vegas trip, but Andi feels bad about the Teddy situation. Adam does not feel like it is a big deal. The world needs nerds. Andi disagrees. She was a nerd growing up and it was not a fun experience. She tells the group about an embarrassing incident when she was a high school freshman. She had just moved to Pittsburgh from Virginia and she did not have many friends. She wanted to make a big impression at the homecoming game so she decided to buy a red leather suit. It was similar to one that Eddie Murphy wore during his stand-up in the 80s. Unfortunately for Andi, the suit was not a good idea. She started to sweat as she walked up the bleachers and the leather made a bad sound. A snooty cheerleader said, “Oh hey, look, it’s Sweaty Murphy.” Andi and Marcy say “Sweaty Murphy” at the same time. As Marcy, Adam and Don are laughing, Andi is shocked. It does not take Andi long to figure out that Marcy was the rude cheerleader. Marcy cannot believe that Andi is still upset about something that happened in high school. Andi says that she did not recognize Marcy because her hair is too thin for a ponytail now. A line has been crossed and Marcy does not find the situation funny now. She tells her husband Don that they are leaving, but Andi tells her not to bother as she leaves the table and goes upstairs. The two husbands are speechless.

The next day, the brothers tell each other about how their wives reacted after Marcy and Don left. Marcy wanted to talk to Don, which she has never done in the past, while Andi could not stop talking about Marcy and swearing in Portuguese. Adam and Don decide that the best way to save their Vegas trip is to convince Marcy to apologize to Andi. When they talk to Marcy, she believes that Andi has been over-reacting about the Sweaty Murphy incident. Besides, Andi said something hurtful to her too so Andi is not completely innocent either. Adam says that Marcy can choose to be the bigger person and apologize. She agrees.

When Andi comes home, she sees Marcy and folds her arms. As Marcy starts her apology, Andi cuts her off. Andi tells her that over the years she has thought about what she would have said to the snooty cheerleader (Marcy) who called her Sweaty Murphy if she had the chance. She realizes that she does not have to tear down others to feel better about herself like Marcy did and continues to do. Annoyed, Marcy cannot believe that Andi is still upset about something that happened in high school. When Adam tries to get his wife to calm down and tell her that Marcy came to apologize, Marcy lets him know that she will not be apologizing. When Andi asks her husband if she is over-reacting, Adam feels cornered and does not give her the answer she is expecting.

When Don and Marcy leave, Andi is upset that Adam did not side with her in front of Marcy. Adam does not understand why Andi cannot move on. He says that she is so awesome now so why does some silly embarrassing high school thing still bother her so much. While Andi agrees that she is a confident person today, she was not back then and she cannot understand why he and Marcy cannot understand that. Don comes back after Marcy leaves without him. Adam tries to get his brother to convince Andi to forgive Marcy. Andi wonders why Don does not understand her side of things. He was also a nerd in high school while Adam was the popular jock. As he listens to Andi, Don changes teams. Now he believes that Adam under-reacted to his wife’s feelings.

After Don joins Andi’s team, Adam goes to talk to Marcy. At this point, Adam wants to restore the peace and save his Vegas trip. Both of them realize that they have not taken Andi’s feelings seriously. The two come up with a plan to get Andi and Don to forgive them. They know that Andi and Don will be at the school parent mixer so they can make amends there. At the school, Andi is telling everyone what is going on with Adam when she sees her husband. He’s wearing a red leather suit. Andi is so touched that Adam would embarrass himself for her benefit. He’s not alone. Marcy is hiding, but Adam coaxes her to come out in her red leather suit. Don is also happy to see his wife in such a humiliating state.

A few days later, the couples are leaving for Vegas when Emme (Hala Finley), Adam’s and Andi’s youngest, says she has a sore throat. Andi checks on Teddy and feels his warm forehead. Because they have to care for their sick children, the trip is canceled.