The shy teenager Tom McHugh worships his sexy neighbour Geena Matthews who lives on the other side of the street, but he does not dare to talk to her.

When his parents travel with their dog for a competition and his self-confident big brother Craig McHugh unexpectedly arrives from California for a visit with a classic 1959 Cadillac.

Craig decides to call Geena and schedule a date with Tom.

He lends his clothes and his credit card to Tom, who cuts his hair like Craig, buy flowers while Tom calls a limousine service.

However, the driver has an accident and Tom decides "to borrow" the fancy car to impress the girl.

When Tom is mistakenly taken as being Craig and finds a body in the trunk, his dream-night with Geena becomes a nightmare....

It appears to be, and I have thought for twenty years, that this was just going to be one of those goofy comedies, where the guy keeps falling over and eventually gets the girl.

I had no idea that the film had such a ruthless streak in the middle of it, pretty much in the same vein as 'Adventures in babysitting'.

It's not the best story in the world, and the narrative ensures that you need an unhealthy pinch of salt to take the plot events, but the two leads are likable, and it goes at such a quick pace, it's hard not to be entertained.

it's one of those early nineties films that are still stuck somewhere in the eighties, that should have it's own sub genre. it's dated badly, thanks to the fashion and the hair.

But it's still a guilty pleasure nonetheless

Tom McHugh (Ethan Hawke) has been eyeing the beautiful house-sitter next door, Geena Matthews (Teri Polo),but he hasn't had the courage to speak to her all summer long. His amoral womanizing older brother Craig McHugh (Brian McNamara) arrives home right after his parents leave for their holiday. Craig gets him a date with Genna with some smooth talk. He has to take Craig's 59 DeSoto and the date becomes one crazy incident after another.

Honestly, I thought that this stars one of the Coreys. I didn't know that it's Ethan Hawke although he can't save this one. It's a wild and crazy night and a rather annoying series of misunderstandings. His first move should have been dumping the body out of the trunk and end the date. The bigger problem is that I hate Craig and Tom is only better by comparison. Tom's pathetic neediness is annoying in a different way. I also don't like Geena that much. The audience has to like these people and at best, I'm indifferent to them.

I caught "Mystery Date" on TV one night. It portrays nerdy Tom McHugh (Ethan Hawke) learning from older brother Craig (Brian McNamara) how to ask a girl out on a date. But when it comes time for the date, a series of things go wrong, and before you know it, the whole thing looks like Dave Barry's novel "Big Trouble".

I should identify that "Mystery Date" isn't a bad movie. It's just that the ending seemed a little improbable. Otherwise, most of the movie's acceptable. Victor Wong had a fairly goofy line, and it was interesting seeing Teri Polo in the years before she became the woman in "Meet the Parents".