Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999)

It's not a very classy thing to say when you're trying to be some sort of movie aficionado (the kind that uses the word "aficionado"), but I quite enjoy the work of Kevin Williamson. I know he's a bit repetitive, I know he enjoys clichés and I know he wrote "Cursed" but hey, vague appreciation is blind. "Teaching Mrs.Tingle" is apparently the only shot he ever got at directing a movie, but I don't really get why. I mean sure, the movie's all over the place and constantly changes its tone, but it's definitely not boring. It's tightly paced and knows how to capture you in its limited plot, you actually care how all of this will end. Sadly, the last fifteen minutes are sort of a letdown. Williamson tries his best to give us the kind of twisty finale some of us know and love him for, but it really just comes of as watered-down "Scream". The finale seems like Williamson just put a bunch of half ideas in a hat and played some bingo. I can't be mad at this movie though, it's too pretty and harmless for that. Experience it yourself.P.S: One question though: does Mrs. Tingle EVER need to use the bathroom?

I was expecting to be entertained with Teaching Mrs. Tingle from the beginning, regardless of all the negative reception it receives. I really don't see why everybody is being so unfair on this movie after watching it, either. It was just an enjoyable and fun little film that people are criticizing way too harshly, because it was not that terrible and all it was meant for is to be an entertaining popcorn flick, and in the end, that's what it is; pure entertainment.The movie starts off very good, such as, I was sucked in from the very beginning because I tend to enjoy a lot of teen movies, and this certainly falls under that category. The characters are all really very likable too in their own ways, and none of them were really badly done or uninteresting. I especially loved how Mrs. Tingle was such a prude and how no matter what was thrown at her she always managed to contain that rough persona, because she was excellently portrayed by Helen Mirren. The only thing that really bothered me was the ending, because it was very unprofessionally done and it was just totally sudden and abrupt like they ran out of time and or ideas and rushed the whole thing, but otherwise, Teaching Mrs. Tingle is nothing but fun from beginning to end with enjoyable performances, an interesting concept and good entertainment value. It is definitely not as bad as everyone lets it on to be, in my opinion.

TEACHING MRS. TINGLE was a surprisingly effective little black comedy that was more entertaining than I imagined something like this to be. Katie Holmes plays a straight-A high school student whose entire academic future is threatened when the cold blooded Mrs. Tingle (Helen Mirren) accuses her of stealing the answers to an upcoming exam. A desperate Homes, with the assistance of two friends(Barry Watson,Marisa Coughlan) ambush Mrs. Tingle at her home, tie her to her bed,and plan to keep her prisoner until she agrees to let Holmes off the hook. The premise is rather off the wall, but the story is mounted with tongue firmly planted in cheek and if viewed in that fashion, this movie can provide some goofy fun. Holmes has always been a dreadful actress IMO and this movie did nothing to change my mind about that but Oscar winner Mirren is marvelous in the title role, speaking with a near perfect American accent, Mirren is masterful,turning in a performance of almost Gothic quality. Marisa Coughlan also has her moments as the self-absorbed drama major who enjoys this game a little too much until she allows Tingle to manipulate her as well. Mention should also be made of Michael McKean as the school principal, Molly Ringwald as Miss Tingle's substitute (her take on Cleopatra is hilarious), and especially Jeffrey Tambor, hysterical in a memorable bit as a fellow faculty member who is having an affair with Tingle. But the script is rather clever, Mirren is wonderful and the ending with a twist is on the money.

I was zapping until I saw Ms. Mirren's elegant face. Damn, this woman's hot! I think I missed about the first half hour but seeing the utter crap that this film is, I certainly haven't missed much. This is just another one of those trashy teen thrillers and the only good thing about it is (obviously) Helen Mirren. I loved the way she transforms from mean to vulnerable to manipulative. The character is not the best written character (then there's a whole lot wrong with the sloppy writing let alone inconsistency, plot holes and lack of characterization) but this woman pulls it off with brilliance. Katie Holmes is one of the most uninteresting actresses and she should just stick to that snoozefest soap 'Dawson's Creek' where she continues 'advising' her co-stars. Oh wait, that's been long cancelled, hasn't it? Barry Watson and Marisa Coughlan are equally pathetic. I'm sure the director and the writer hated their teachers which is why they want to teach the kids of today that it's alright to kidnap your teacher and beat her up, no matter how mean she is in class because that will surely get you an A.