Will Ferrell stars as New Orleans smooth jazz ratio station exec Brad Whitaker, who has a loving wife in Sarah, and two stepchildren who haven't quite come around to accepting him as their new father. Things seem to be on the up and up until Sarah's deadbeat ex, Dusty Mayron, decides he wants to pay a visit, triggering lots of feelings of jealousy and insecurity when it turns out that Dusty is seen as the epitome of cool to his kids in all of the ways Brad can never be. Thinking he needs to up his game in the face of a total alpha male who might even steal back his ex-wife, Brad decides he's going to have to start 'manning up' and beat Dusty at his own game to earn the right to be the man of the house.