Without a Paddle

12 years after graduating from high school, three friends, Jerry, Dan, and Tom, learn that their childhood friend Billy has died in a parasailing accident. After the funeral, they revisit the group's old tree-house and find a map leading to D. B. Cooper's lost treasure, which Billy had apparently been working on for his entire life. Dan takes annual leave from his job as a doctor and joins Jerry and Tom on a camping trip to find the treasure.

Canoeing down the river, they eventually stop on the riverbank for the night. They realize that they forgot to bring food, so Tom goes out to catch some fish. However, the activity attracts a grizzly bear which chases them. When Dan falls, the bear seemingly treats him like a cub until he breaks free, following the others up a tree. In the morning, they find all of their gear has been ripped up and completely destroyed by the bear.

The trio take off into the river but are unable to read the damaged map, causing them to go the wrong way. They go over a waterfall, and although they survive, their canoe is destroyed. Venturing into the woods with a compass, they find themselves at a pot farm where rednecks Dennis and Elwood, mistake them for thieves and start shooting at them. They escape, burning the pot garden down in the process. This enrages Dennis and Elwood, who decide to hunt them down and kill them.

Later, far into the forest, the trio meet hippie girls Flower and Butterfly, who treat them in their tree. Using a radio the farmers find them, but the women drop paper bags full of feces at the farmers to distract them while the trio escape. They are saved from the thunderstorm by a mountain man who takes them to his hut and provides them with clothes. He later reveals himself to be Del Knox, Cooper's partner before his death.

The next morning, the farmers find them, shooting the hut. The trio escape while Del distracts the farmers by shooting at the two with his dual wield revolvers. The trio stumbles upon the site of Cooper's crash-landing, discovering his skeleton and the suitcase he used to hold the ransom money down an old mine shaft. They realize he burned his share of the money attempting to survive.

As Dan crawls through a small tunnel to find a way out, the farmers find Tom and Jerry, and a fistfight ensues. Eventually, Sheriff Briggs, who had earlier helped the trio, intervenes. He then reveals himself to be the farmers' employer. Jerry arms a grenade taken from Dennis and throws it at the pot dealers. It explodes, causing a tree to fall on the farmers and the sheriff, who are soon arrested.

In the closing scenes, Del gives Tom, Jerry and Dan what's left of D.B's non burnt money ($100,000) but Jerry and Dan decide Tom needs it more than they do, so they let Tom keep it, while Del gives D.B. a proper funeral. Jerry proposes to his girlfriend Denise, Dan starts a relationship with Flower, and Tom becomes a camp counselor for a children's summer camp where he tells his troop an exaggerated version of the trip.

• Seth Green as Dan Mott
  • Jarred Rumbold as young Dan
• Matthew Lillard as Jerry Conlaine
  • Andrew Hampton as young Jerry
• Dax Shepard as Tom Marshall
  • Matthew Price as young Tom
• Burt Reynolds as Del Knox
• Bonnie Somerville as Denise
• Ethan Suplee as Elwood
• Ray Baker as Hank Briggs
• Abraham Benrubi as Dennis
• Rachel Blanchard as Flower
• Christina Moore as Butterfly
• Antony Starr as Billy Newwood
  • Carl Snell as young Billy
• Scott Adsit as Greasy man
• Danielle Cormack as Toni
• Bart the Bear 2 as Grizzly bear
  • Bonnie Hunt as Grizzly bear

A sequel to the film, titled Without a Paddle: Nature's Calling, was released direct-to-video on January 13, 2009. None of the cast and crew from the first film returned.

• Deliverance, a 1972 film with a similar plot and includes Burt Reynolds in the cast.
• D. B. Cooper in popular culture

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• Without a Paddle at IMDb
• Without a Paddle at AllMovie
• Without a Paddle at Rotten Tomatoes