Rebecca Warner attends her graduation ceremony at Lincoln High School in rural South Dakota, and gives the commencement speech as valedictorian. Her father, Walter, disapproves of her choice to go to college in California. The night before she leaves, Rebecca sneaks out to meet her boyfriend, Travis, but insists on waiting before they have sex. After driving for three days, she and her family arrive at Los Angeles University, and Rebecca meets her roommate, Carol. When Rebecca loses the key to her storage trunk, her father searches for a screwdriver from “Crawl,” the student manager. However, after meeting the strange character, Walter warns Rebecca to steer clear of him. Rebecca settles in, but soon feels overwhelmed by her new environment. She telephones Travis in near-tears, wanting to come home. On Halloween night, as her classmates celebrate, lonely Rebecca bursts into tears, and Crawl consoles her. He encourages her to give college a chance, and shows her a picture of himself from his freshman year, when he was an uptight nerd. Rebecca can hardly believe his transformation into a zany, outgoing character, and agrees to explore the city with him before making up her mind to return home. Soon, Rebecca is having fun, and Crawl gives her a dramatic makeover. She surprises him by getting a butterfly tattoo. Before going home for Thanksgiving, Rebecca learns that Crawl’s plans fell through, and invites him to come home with her. When they arrive, Travis and Rebecca’s family are shocked by her transformation, and equally surprised to see Crawl. However, Rebecca assures Travis that she and Crawl are only friends. When Travis drops down on one knee, Rebecca feigns illness before he can finish his proposal. She tells Crawl in a panic that she is not ready to be married, and realizes that she needs to break up with Travis. Later, Rebecca takes Crawl into town to give him a “rustic” makeover so he can fit in on the farm, and he wins over her younger brother, Zack, by fixing his computer. Zack asserts that Crawl is smarter than he looks. At a family dinner at a country club, Travis gets up in front of the room and proposes to Rebecca. She begs Crawl to interfere, and he announces that he and Rebecca are already engaged. Rebecca follows Travis outside to apologize, but he ignores her and punches Crawl in the face. Although she feels badly for lying, Rebecca insists they keep up the charade until they return to California. Meanwhile, her parents scheme to break up Rebecca and Crawl. Asked how he will support their daughter, Crawl insists he will follow his future father-in-law’s footsteps and run the farm. When Walter challenges his ability, Crawl awakens early the next morning to learn the ropes from Theo, the Warners’ farmhand. However, as Rebecca continues to argue with her family, Crawl offers to leave, prompting them to give him a second chance. Crawl continues working the farm, and Rebecca and her father make up. Crawl gives Rebecca’s mother, Connie, a makeover, and presents her at a square dance. Walter is impressed with his “new” wife. Travis apologizes for punching Crawl, and offers to throw him a bachelor party. Later, Walter invites Crawl to go fishing with him and his father. When the older man collapses, Crawl comes to his rescue, earning Walter’s gratitude. Afterward, Crawl tells Rebecca he wants to admit the truth to her family. However, he still goes to the bar to attend his bachelor party. Behind Crawl’s back, Travis puts drugs in his beer, and also drugs Tracy, a stripper who arrives to dance for the men. The next morning, Rebecca notes that Crawl never came home, and Theo tells her he slept in the barn. When Rebecca goes to awaken him, she finds him in a compromising position with Tracy. Crawl pleads his innocence, claiming he blacked out at the party, but Rebecca refuses to believe him, and declares that their wedding is off. Crawl admits his feelings for Rebecca, but accuses her of using him to avoid having to face Travis. When Travis arrives at the farm, Tracy asks him what happened to her, and he lies that she initiated sex with Crawl. As she leaves, Tracy finds a bottle of prescription pills in her car and returns to confront Travis. Seeing Crawl hitchhiking on the roadside, she shares her discovery. They return to the farm as the family sits down to Thanksgiving dinner, and Travis proposes marriage to Rebecca. However, Tracy shows everyone the bottle of pills, and Theo admits to helping in the scheme. Rebecca demands that Travis leave, and Crawl beats him as he leaves. Theo is fired, and Tracy is invited to join them at the table. As Rebecca begins to reveal that she and Crawl were never engaged, Crawl interrupts her to say they are taking their time to set the wedding date.