This week on Shat the Movies, it’s a date night gone completely off the rails with Mystery Date (1991)! Ethan Hawke stars as a shy teen whose dream night with the girl next door spirals into chaos involving mistaken identity, a dead body, and a punk club performance by Gwar. Gene and Big D unpack the movie’s strange tone, chaotic plot, and missed opportunities for greatness. From creepy crushes to club culture, this dark comedy has more surprises than a trunk full of corpses. Does it hold up, or should this movie stay forgotten? Tune in to find out!.
Plot Summary:
Teenage Tom McHugh (Ethan Hawke) is madly in love with his ravishing next-door neighbor, Geena Matthews (Teri Polo), but becomes hopelessly tongue-tied whenever she’s around. When his parents go away on an impromptu road trip, his suave law student brother shows up and begins coaching Tom on how to pick up women. Things are going great until Tom discovers a body in the trunk of his brother’s car, and his perfect date with Geena takes multiple turns for the worse.
Subscribe Now
Help Support the Podcast
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.