Rather appropriately, given the plot of the movie, Mystery Date was a complete surprise for me. I'd never heard of the film before, but since it had Ethan Hawke in it, and it vaguely sounded fun, I thought I'd give it a try. By the end of the movie, I was complementing myself on my cleverness in selecting such an entertaining movie: Mystery Date is a fun, lightweight evening's entertainment that zips along with plenty of twists and turns as well as a good sense of humor.

The premise of Mystery Date is that eternal problem: how to get a date with one's ideal girl (or guy). For the socialites among us (and you know who you are), it may not seem like such a big deal, but for shy types like Tom (Ethan Hawke), the very idea of actually introducing himself to the girl he's been admiring from afar is... well, it's much too radical for him, to say the least. But when Tom's confident older brother breezes in for a surprise visit, things get moving as Craig sets up the perfect date, complete with reservations at a great restaurant, a new suit for Tom, and the loan of Craig's credit cards for the night. Sounds too good to be true? Possibly, but Tom certainly isn't in the mood to examine this gift horse in the mouth... not when he's busy trying to impress Geena (Teri Polo)in person.

It's a movie about a nervous guy on a first date, anxious that everything should go perfectly. The viewer, of course, knows perfectly well that things are going to go wrong; in fact, some of the fun of the movie is trying to anticipate just what's going to happen. Mystery Date is quite playful in that respect: on the one hand, it takes the "what could possibly go wrong next?" to some extremely unexpected heights, while on the other hand, it teases the viewer throughout the film with one element that keeps seeming like it will go wrong, but doesn't. (Yes, I'm being vague. I don't want to spoil it for anyone.)

The film clearly owes a strong debt to Risky Business, that quintessential movie of "the parents are away, the teenager will play... and get in over his head." But Mystery Date stands perfectly well on its own, with a more thoroughly comic tone throughout the film, and a different kind of story. Mystery Date is quite well plotted overall; the increasingly alarming (and amusing) obstacles to Tom and Geena's perfect night out are logical developments of what has come before. The 98-minute film is well paced, moving along quickly and always keeping the viewer entertained.

The DVD

Video

Mystery Date has been given an anamorphic widescreen presentation, at its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio (though half of the disc space is also wasted on a pan-and-scan version). All in all, the image quality is quite good: colors are natural-looking and clear, the print is clean, and contrast is satisfactory as well. Mystery Date ends up distinctly above average, and should please viewers of the film.

Audio

Mystery Date may have come out in 1991, but it has a definitely 1980s soundtrack... not that I object, mind you; in fact, the fun, slightly "retro" soundtrack is one of the better pop-style tracks that I've heard, as the music is well-matched to the action on the screen. One of my pet peeves in movies is the obtrusive appearance of sappy pop songs with distracting at important moments; fortunately, Mystery Date keeps the radio-hit parts of the soundtrack for the moments when they can add to the mood in the background, and uses more low-key themes to underscore key scenes in the film.

Getting back on track after my digression into music soundtrack styles, I can report that Mystery Date's overall soundtrack is satisfactory, if not exceptional. The Dolby 2.0 surround conveys the dialogue reasonably well, and it's always clear. It's the kind of movie that would have benefited from a 5.1 track, but it does fine with the 2.0.

A dubbed French Dolby 2.0 and Spanish mono soundtrack are also provided, along with English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Extras

For the very low suggested retail price for Mystery Date, there's no reason to expect loads of special features, and in fact we just get a trailer.

Final thoughts

It's not great art, but it is great fun. Mystery Date is a light-weight, entertaining comedy of the "what can go wrong next?" style, and it's well worth picking up for a fun evening at home, especially with a significant other. (Maybe even for a first date...) MGM has given the film a solid transfer onto DVD, with a clean anamorphic widescreen presentation; it's recommended.