History Film / MysteryDate

[[quoteright:214:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a405122654a68129f64ea4268575f45c.jpg]]

''Mystery Date'' is a 1991 teen comedy film directed by Jonathan Wacks and starring Creator/EthanHawke, Creator/TeriPolo, and Creator/BrianMcNamara. Hawke plays Tom [=McHugh=], a teenage boy who's waiting for the perfect time to ask out the cute girl next door. Tom's older brother, Craig, ostensibly a lawyer in California, show up and sets the date up, furnishing Tom with new clothes, a new haircut, and money for the evening. Before the night is over, Tom's been slapped repeatedly by women who know Craig, he's shot somebody, and he may have fallen for this girl. Oh, and there are two bodies in the trunk...

For the board game, [[TabletopGame/MysteryDate see here]].
----
!!This film exhibits the following tropes
* BadDate: Pretty much everything that can go wrong on the date does. [[spoiler:And he still gets the girl]].
* BrokenPedestal: Tom always looked up to Craig, as did his parents. Unfortunately, Craig is apparently [[spoiler: [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking a thief, a murderer, and a cad]]]].
* ButtMonkey: Poor Dwight gets stiffed on his tip, crashes his florist van, gets harassed by the police when he gets caught by a pool of blood, falls off of a bridge, and barely avoids getting run over by a train. Then, [[spoiler:he gets stiffed for his tip again]].
* TheCameo: Shock rock band Music/{{GWAR}} are playing at Club Voltaire.
* CoolCar: Craig's 1959 [=DeSoto=] Firesweep.
* CouldntFindAPen: The man on the second floor of Club Voltaire writes a dying message implicating his murderer and indicating the [[spoiler:prior]] location of the [=McGuffin=].
* DestinationDefenestration: The martial artist at Mr. Lew's does a flying kick at Tom... and gets the window instead.
* DirtyCop: [[spoiler:Most of the people pursuing Tom/Craig are doing so because the tape implicates them]].
* DyingClue: The man on the second floor of Club Voltaire writes the name of his killer and a message in Chinese.
* HollywoodSpelling: Averted. At one point, a man killed by [[spoiler:Craig [=McHugh=]]] gets his name written as [[spoiler:[=McQ=] by his victim]].
* HostageForMcGuffin: Lew offers to trade Geena for the vase.
* KarmaHoudini: At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Craig has gotten away with at least two murders and got his payment, and everyone who was looking for him thinks he's dead]].
* MacGuffin: The vase. [[spoiler:Or rather, the tape that was in the vase.]]
* MistakenIdentity: People keep mistaking Tom for Craig. [[spoiler:This is because Craig set Tom up as his alibi for the night.]]
* NaughtyBirdwatching: Tom "makes good use" of Craig's old telescope with the girl next door.
* RansackedRoom: Both the [=McHugh=] house and Craig's apartment.
* StandardFemaleGrabArea: Averted. Lew's men put Geena into a proper armbar.

''Mystery Date'' is a 1991 teen comedy film directed by Jonathan Wacks and starring Creator/EthanHawke, Teri Polo, and Brian [=McNamara=]. Hawke plays Tom [=McHugh=], a teenage boy who's waiting for the perfect time to ask out the cute girl next door. Tom's older brother, Craig, ostensibly a lawyer in California, show up and sets the date up, furnishing Tom with new clothes, a new haircut, and money for the evening. Before the night is over, Tom's been slapped repeatedly by women who know Craig, he's shot somebody, and he may have fallen for this girl. Oh, and there are two bodies in the trunk...

''Mystery Date'' is a 1991 teen comedy film directed by Jonathan Wacks and starring Creator/EthanHawke, Teri Polo, and Brian [=McNamara=]. Hawke plays Tom [=McHugh=], a teenage boy who's waiting for the perfect time to ask out the cute girl next door. Tom's older brother, Craig, ostensibly a lawyer in California, show up and sets the date up, furnishing Tom with new clothes, a new haircut, and money for the evening. Before the night is over, Tom's been slapped repeatedly by women who know Tom, he's shot somebody, and he may have fallen for this girl. Oh, and there are two bodies in the trunk...

''Mystery Date'' is a 1991 teen comedy film directed by Jonathan Wacks and starring Creator/EthanHawke, Teri Polo, and Brian [=McNamara=]. Hawke plays Tom [=McHugh=], a teenage boy who's waiting for the perfect time to ask out the cute girl next door. Tom's older brother, Craig, [[spoiler:ostensibly]] a lawyer in California, show up and sets the date up, furnishing Tom with new clothes, a new haircut, and money for the evening. Before the night is over, Tom's been slapped repeatedly by women who know Tom, he's shot somebody, and he may have fallen for this girl. Oh, and there are two bodies in the trunk...

* BrokenPedestal: Tom always looked up to [[spoiler:Craig]], as did his parents. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:Craig]] is apparently [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking a thief, a murderer, and a cad]].

This film exhibits the following tropes:

''Mystery Date'' is a 1991 teen comedy film directed by Jonathan Wacks and starring Creator/EthanHawke, Teri Polo, and Brian [=McNamara=]. Hawke plays Tom [=McHugh=], a teenage boy who's waiting for the perfect time to ask out the cute girl next door. Tom's older brother, Craig, [[-spoiler:ostensibly]] a lawyer in California, show up and sets the date up, furnishing Tom with new clothes, a new haircut, and money for the evening. Before the night is over, Tom's been slapped repeatedly by women who know Tom, he's shot somebody, and he may have fallen for this girl. Oh, and there are two bodies in the trunk...

* TheMcGuffin: The vase. [[spoiler:Or rather, the tape that was in the vase.]]