Treehouse Hostage 1999

Carl Banks is a dangerous counterfeiter who escapes from jail, sending ripples through a quiet suburb as he vanishes into the morning light. At the same time, Timmy Taylor, an 11-year-old with a looming Monday deadline for a school project, frets that a missing assignment could land him in summer school, a fate his teacher and Principal Ott seem eager to enforce. The two parallel stories set the stage for a probe into crime that unfolds amid playground bravado and classroom nerves.

Carl tries to print more money and stumbles upon one of the counterfeit plates, but cannot complete the job when his crooked ex-boss Scalise and his cadre of counterfeiters catch him at his base. He ends up sprinting into Timmy’s backyard and taking shelter in Timmy’s treehouse, where Timmy and his two best friends seize the moment to hold him hostage—planning to escort him to school on Monday so he can ace Current Events.

Yet keeping a major criminal captive proves more complicated than the kids expect, partly because Carl’s presence hints at a larger counterfeit operation. As Timmy pieces together the truth, he and his friends realize they are tangled in something far bigger than a simple schoolyard dispute, and they push to turn the situation to their advantage. In a bold move, they enlist their neighbor and rival Janie Paulson and her friend Angela to help them fashion a fake cash plate and lay a trap for the criminals.

The plan pays off in a surprising turn: Carl manages to capture Ott and his men, while the evil principal himself gets away. The kids’ taped recordings reveal the counterfeit gang and prove Carl’s innocence, opening the door to witness protection if he cooperates—and he agrees.

Back at school on Monday, Timmy’s teacher remains skeptical until the police arrive with Carl and arrest Principal Ott for leading the gang. The school erupts in applause as Ott is defeated, and Janie Paulson’s kiss on Timmy’s cheek marks a bittersweet victory. The tale closes with Timmy receiving a reward check for his actions, a memento that his dog promptly buries in the backyard later that night.