Movies-TV

Amusing, but doesn't quite live upto its potential.

Teaching Mrs. Tingle (Kevin Williamson, 1999)

I avoided this film for years despite my fanboyish obsession with Helen Mirren simply because it was written and directed by the awful Kevin Williamson. I finally decided to get around to seeing it, and I discovered, much to my surprise, that Kevin Williamson is not really all that awful. (I am now faced with the idea that Craven and Williamson's collaborations are bad because of Craven and not Williamson, which is a truly depressing idea.) Teaching Mrs. Tingle is at least smart and funny, if predictable and cliched.

Eve Tingle (Mirren) is the history teacher from hell, a tyrant whose class is the one that keeps just about everyone from getting uniformly good grades. Thanks to a series of events that could only happen in Hollywood, good girl Leigh Ann Watson (Dawson's Creek's Katie Holmes) is discovered with the answers to Mrs. Tingle's final exam in her bag. With her best friend Jo Lynn (Pumpkin's Marisa Coughlan) and Luke (Seventh Heaven's Barry Watson), who was responsible for the whole mess in the first place, Leigh Ann goes over to Mrs. Tingle's house to plead her case. Things spiral out of control, and the three teens find themselves locked in a battle of wits with the teacher.

There has been a great deal made over the title's changing from Killing Mrs. Tingle being thanks to Columbine; did no one notice the incredible similarities to the 1997 TV movie Killing Mr. Griffin? Eh, guess not. In any case, you get pretty much what you came for. Jo Lynn is all too stereotypical. Luke is a tad more three-dimensional, but of the three teens, only Leigh Ann is drawn with anything akin to depth. Eve Tingle is the movie's best creation, but much of her depth is shown to the viewer and then made to disappear.

Despite the movie's weak characterization and derivative plot, it is at least amusing and decently-paced, which accounts for some of its watchability. You won't find classic film here, by any means, but not a bad way to kill an hour and a half or so if you enjoy staring rapturously at Helen Mirren. ** ½

Tingling can be fun.

Hellen Mirren is just one of the best actresses around and here she puts these untamed, untrained children through their paces without the distraction of a whip and chair. With the loss of Seigried and Roy I heartily recommend Mrs. Tingle and her wild animal act to replace them.

With all due respect to Roy's injuries and his humanity toward his attacker, Mrs. Tingle's sly, sexy, scintillating savagery is far too much for these adolescent lessers.

If you want to spend an evening watching an old dog teach new tricks with syle and sublety then by all means watch Helen work. You won't regret it. You might even feel a tingle of sympathy for her in the end.

Teaching Mrs. Tingle is more interesting than teaching history!

I have now watched this movie at least 30 times on the movie channels and decided that I like this movie more each time. Carefully watching these young actors portraying their characters, they have achieved their talents in making one believe they are not acting. It gets funnier each time and with each time, I realize what a cruel person Tingle might actually be. Just because Mirren is a superb actress doesn't make her a likable one in this film. She is however, a perfect teacher on how to be a spiteful, hateful, mean-spirited,jealous and power abusing menace to society if you need a teacher. It is that kind of callous hearted abuse and lack of self discipline in separating personal feelings and power that makes someone like her so dangerous and drives many otherwise decent human beings into desperate measures. Which is one of the keys to this films plot. It is, as Leigh Ann accuses, the teachers and role models to blame if the youth of today do not achieve skills to being better human beings and with Tingle as an example, what tools would a youngster faced with such a situation have learned to resolve any better? Tingles morally criminal behavior leads to actual criminal behavior of these minors trying to convince her to do the right thing from the start. Her position to do whatever she wants, right or wrong is what causes these teens to resort to desperate measures to protect themselves against such abuse which is not unlike many other positions adults force upon children. Playing by ear, with each plea for Tingle to cooperate and her refusal, these teens must plot to save whatever they can. It was Tingle who had malice from beginning to end, the kids just played the game changing the rules from plan A to B when all failed. If not for Jo Lynn and her adaptive humor, this film could have had controversial overtones. Jo Lynn was the tie that binds these characters together and her lighthearted, carefree humor was refreshing to the plot. She illuminated the meaning of a forgiving and loyal friend. Oddly, this was one of those feel good films for me.

Disapointing

Like many who were expecting something full of plot and suspence, I rented this video from the store thinking that it would be a good movie. It had to be one of the disapointing movies I've seen. A very unconvincing, shallow plot. Very unbelievable. I mean would things really get to that extreme in such a situation? The strict, mean teacher was portrayed well in the movie, but the drastic degree the students took to get what they wanted. They break into her house and nearly kill her with an arrow. Oh yeah they're really going to college now. I kept waiting and waiting for this movie to end, it seemed that it kept going and going but when it was done, I felt that was the biggest waste of time I ever spent. Don't make the same mistake.

What Did Helen Mirren Learn

Certainly one of the most respected players in English speaking world is Helen Mirren. Previous to the Best Actress Oscar she got for last year playing Queen Elizabeth II she was probably best known for being Scotland Yard police inspector Jane Tennyson in Prime Suspect when those episodes reached the American side of the pond. But somewhere somehow, someone persuaded this woman to sign up for a role in American teen comedy Teaching Mrs. Tingle in the title role.Meryl Streep might have seen Helen Mirren in this part before she signed up for The Devil Wears Prada. Mirren is certainly the teacher from hell. I met a few like them, time serving drudges who were hardly inspirational figures for impressionable kids.Katie Holmes is one of those impressionable kids who's a grade grubber to put it mildly. We're to believe here that Mirren's less than A grade will ruin her entire future because she won't get a scholarship that will go to Liz Stauber her rival who's rich and doesn't need it anyway.A visit by Holmes and her two friends Barry Watson and Marisa Coughlan results in Mirren being kidnapped and tied to her bed. And then she plays the kids all off against each other.Yes, believe it or not this is a comedy. Jeffrey Tambor plays the physical education teacher with whom she's got a thing going and calls Spanky. Michael McKean and Vivica Fox and Molly Ringwald play the principal, guidance counselor, and school secretary all of whom have as low an opinion of Mirren as the kids do, but are afraid of her.I know this made a lot of money because of Watson and Holmes being on current television series 7th Heaven and Dawson's Creek at the time. Still you got to wonder whether they look back in horror at this one. Especially Holmes before she was half of TomKat.

My advice? Skip this one

After hearing nothing conclusive about this film, I borrowed it from a friend to see if it was good or not. I popped it in the DVD player, pushed play, and was immediately hit with a teeny-popper song... before the production company titles had even begun! I don't believe I've ever experienced a film digging its own grave before the first image or title appeared on-screen... why, I ask you, would a movie that is labeled a thriller start the opening credits with a song that only young teenagers(and mostly girls) could possibly enjoy? And I answer: because it wants to make it absolutely clear that it's aimed entirely at the teen audience... and not the entire teen audience; only the part of it that enjoys sappy TV-series like Dawson's Creek and reality shows. I was immediately scared that this would indeed set the tone for the rest of the film... I shall stall no longer; it does. The plot is ridiculous. The main character gets grades just too low to get her into Harvard. So she kidnaps her teacher. Makes a lot of sense, right? No, I don't think so either. Well, believe it or not, it goes downhill from there... the pacing is horrendous. I don't think I watched for more than three minutes at a time during any point in the movie, before doing something more valuable with my time. The acting is really bad, only Helen Mirren gives a good performance. The characters are poorly written and clichéd. The suspense portions of the movie are not particularly good, and I felt more like doing something else, instead of pay attention to it. The film really didn't have too many positive points... the attempts at humor are tame and inspire boredom rather than laughter. Half of the gags were drawn out terribly, as well... a good example would be the one teenage girl acting out about five minutes of a scene from The Exorcist. OK, we get it, she's bored. All in all, the film doesn't really have anything to offer, apart from the occasional attractive teen girl. On a final note, Kevin Williamson really shouldn't direct... ever again. I recommend it only to teenagers and fans of movies aimed specifically at teenagers. Everyone else, skip this one. 5/10

An okay film.

I can't say that I didn't like this movie a little bit. It was interesting enough that I didn't get bored. I doubt that I'll ever watch it again, but Teaching Mrs. Tingle was okay. This film was technically well made in my opinion, but I felt that the plot was just too unbelievable. I think that the kids should have just gone to the principal, but then there probably wouldn't have been much of a movie had they done that. I also thought that the movie moved too fast in the beginning, but after a while the pace turned out fine. The ending was a bit confusing also. Teaching Mrs. Tingle had some pretty good acting: especially the lady that played Mrs. Tingle (Helen Mirren). Another movie I like with Helen Mirren is The Mosquito Coast. The rest of the cast turned in good performances too. I don't think that this movie is poor or stupid, I just think that it's too unbelievable and confusing. It held my attention though. I actually rate this movie 2.5 stars. Not that great, but not bad either.

Before She Was The Queen...

I love Helen Mirren (Prime Suspect). She is an actor that makes every role she plays appear effortless. She's also quite the beauty, still hot in her "older" years! Watching Ms. Mirren match wits w/ her teen abductors (including a nice turn by Katie Holmes) is a pure joy! She is smart, acidic, and downright eeevil! Her Mrs. Tingle is frightening, even when bound and gagged! You can feel her hate, while watching those wicked wheels turn in her head. TEACHING MRS. TINGLE is a surprisingly intelligent and suspenseful movie. It uses its humor sparingly, never making things ridiculous. Kevin Williamson (Scream 1 and 2) deserves a lot of credit here. He uses restraint, going with a more sinister tone, when things could really have taken a much sillier turn. The only complaint I have is the PG-13 rated version. It's obvious by the "EXORCIST re-enactment" scene that words were overdubbed to miss the R rating. It sort of wrecks an otherwise hilarious sequence. Then again, they had to change the original title (Killing Mrs. Tingle) to start with. Ugh!...

Good Show!

The performances are terrific! This movie is outrageous,funny and even rather exciting. The premise is tongue-in-cheek(or at least it used to be) and the dialog is a little ridiculous in parts but is it possible to have a bad movie with Helen Mirren in a significant role?What a talent! Katie Holmes and Marisa Coughlan are really quite excellent too. A nice little ending wraps up a rather good viewing experience.

Really ridiculous!

Ridiculous thriller in which a group of students kidnapped their bad and neurotic teacher (Mirren) just to prevent her action against them. Interesting premise could render a good movie but this one is just lame and far fetched. Boring with an ending embarassing, just to say the least. Mrs. Mirren tries to give some dignity to this misfire but even she - a good actress, no doubt about it - could save this garbage. I give this a 4 (four).

Helen Mirren is great but that is all that can be said for it.

I watched this movie only because of Helen Mirren. I would have left the movie after five minutes except for her. Otherwise the movie was a disaster. Perhaps it was the contrast between Mirren and the other child actors that made them look so bad. But the plot is so absurd nothing could save this movie.

Teaching People in the film industry How not to make a film.....

This film gives the impression it is written by an 11 year old child. (Sorry thats an insult to most 11 year olds...) Is it meant to be a drama or a comedy?? As it turns out this movie is a complete mess...unfunny and non-sensical....how a actress of the calibre of Helen Mirren ever got involved in this total nonsense is bewildering. I fell asleep watching this trash and I only regret I did'nt sleep throughout the whole of this picture. It deserves an award for the worst writing and acting in any film ever made.

Helen Mirren is sensational

People think that movies are suppose to be grand, 100 million dollars worth of [effects] thrown together to make our mouth drop with delight. This movie was so great! Helen Mirren is sensational, she show that even that the most horrible times, she can still manipulate even the most smartest people. Katie Holmes is great and her being close from my home town she is a great actress with awesome abilities as a person. Jo Lynn (Coughlan) was phenomenal she made me laugh so hard when she did the exorcist scene, well done! Barry Watson (Tambor) was great as well! But look deep in yourselves haven't we all had a teacher that we would just like to tell her what we think of her!! I know i have! Well this movie brilliantly written by Kevin Williamson helps us do that. It is not too violent and seeing that it was close to Columbine it was well titled. Teaching Mrs. Tingle sounds alot better because they do teach her a lesson and they dont kill her. Nobody dies and nobody really gets seriously hurt. Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes, Marisa Coughlan, and Barry Watson gave excellent preformances, way to go you shining stars you get an A+ in my book, and guess what? I am very close to being a History Teacher so beware. (laughs) "Ms. Watson, dazzle us will you" Helen Mirren (Teaching Mrs. Tingle)
Very good guys!

Good teenage THRILLER

Is a good teenage thriller, but isn't a comedy as it is intended to be. Written and directed by Kevin Williamson, it has a very clever script and is generally well directed. Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek) gives an excellent performance as Leigh Ann. Marisa Coughlan and Barry Watson also give good performances. Overall this film is good for a Saturday night but don't expect it to be the greatest film of all time.

Teaching Mrs. Dreadful

Sorry for any spoilers that this contains. But if you want to read on anyway: I really wonder why so many people are so high on Kevin Williamson. Let's just take a quick look at his work as a screenwriter, shall we? There's Scream 1 and 2 (plus the story for the next one), which I think are pretty funny but very overrated. Besides, by making Scream into a franchise, it ceased to become a parody of horror movies and simply became another one. Then there's I Know What You Did Last Summer, which is essentially the same movie again. He co-wrote Halloween: H20, but even he had the sense not to take credit for what he did on that monstrosity. Then comes The Faculty, which I can only say was god-awful. (Lots of fun to make fun of, though). Don't even get me started on the ridiculous, soap-operatic Dawson's Creek, I could rail about how bad that is for hours. So then we get to Teaching Mrs. Tingle. First of all, there are tons of little implausibilities in this one. For example: in most high schools that I know of, the valedictorian is NOT the only one who gets to go to college! This idea that Katie Holmes's character would never go anywhere unless she was valedictorian was absurd. Haven't you ever heard of financial assistance, damn it!? Also, I don't think you get expelled from high school or don't get into college because of cheating on one test. There are a bunch of other ones, but I'll skip to the big one now. The ending really bothered me: they committed a crime, but it was ok because the teacher was a bitch. Great. Do you know how many of my teachers I could kidnap based on that logic? I'm sure the police never took any statements to find out the whole story, either. That sure wouldn't be necessary. Helen Mirren was good, she added some nice flair to a character who (as a previous commenter noted) had NO reason for anything she did. And has anyone else noticed that Katie Holmes absolutely can't act? Her self-righteousness became incredibly annoying. "You wanted me to fail. Blah blah blah." Her last two scenes with Mrs. Tingle were the worst. The only reason I don't regret losing $8.25 on this disaster is because she got beaten up a bit. No, wait, I do regret losing the money: it wasn't real, and she survived. Mr. Williamson, if you're reading this, you've made the same movie (some violence and/or scary stuff offset by wise-ass kids who make sarcastic jokes and references to other movies) just a FEW too many times now (I count 6 so for, not including Scream 3 and whatever follows it), and I would really appreciate it if you would stop. Otherwise, I might just have to kidnap you and threaten YOU with a crossbow. Ok? :-)

Six Out Of Ten.

Black comedy about three high school students (Katie Holmes, Marisa Coughlan, and Barry Watson) who confront their icy, miserable history teacher (Helen Mirren) in her house and wind up in a series of events that snowball out of control.Supposedly, debuting film-maker Kevin Williamson (the writer of "Scream" and "Scream 2") based Mrs. Tingle on an actual teacher that he had in school.
While I am amazed that any teacher could be as evil and heartless as this one is, I was generally amused by the picture. Make no mistake about it, though: don't rent or buy it thinking it's going to be some sort of thriller or suspense story; it's basically goofy stuff that ought not to be taken seriously. The cast is fine, but none of them can quite match Mirren, who hits just the right note as Mrs. Tingle - she is completely convincing, although like I say, the source of her evil is dumbfounding and never really explained by Williamson.One source of amusement is a bit of casting that kind of comes full circle: Molly Ringwald, once a teenaged star of teen-oriented movies, plays a school employee in this film.I thought it was entertaining but nothing special; "fairly good" is how I think I would put it.

Decent Movie, Bad Conclusion

I wasn't sure what to expect when I first saw this movie awhile ago. Would it be a crazy teen romp complete with insane pranks on teachers and classmates alike? Or would it be a dramatic piece with lessons and morals to spare? The answer? A little bit of both.

While I won't say I loved this movie, I did love Katie Holmes'character transformation here. From serious, studious bookworm to adventurous and optimistic. Cool job with the acting and writing there. Others may praise Helen Mirren's portrayal of Mrs. Tingle as being the highlight but for me it was Katie who stole the show.

My only real problem with this movie is the ending. Too many issues are glossed over for a happy, neatly packaged conclusion. The kids may have hated Mrs. Tingle for she was no doubt a bitter old lady, but the kids did indeed have a stolen test paper. What was Mrs. Tingle to do? Ignore that completely? And the issue is basically forgotten by the end of the film as the three students walk away scot free. Let's not forget that they kidnapped Mrs. Tingle and shot her with an arrow before she ever took a shot at them. The movie seems to abandon all of this. This movie would've been much better with a more realistic ending.

light-hearted fun

Those who are intent on criticising the quality of this movie are taking things far too seriously. The title itself, is an indication that Kevin Williamson wasn't trying to make an Academy Award Winner. If you lower your expectations, and accept this film for what it is; a light-hearted comedic "thriller," you will enjoy it. Helen Mirren's sheer presence sets the tone and her performance is sharp. Katie Holmes is yet again the "sweet and innocent swat," but give her credit- after years of experience as Joey in Dawson's Creek, she plays the part well. If you are not moved by this film, you should at least find fun in the fantasy of holding the most evil teacher hostage.

I was bored!

I went to this movie because I really liked the trailer. Unfortunately, the trailer was the whole movie. I laughed twice...that's about all I can say. It had great potential, but didn't go anywhere. The ONLY thing I liked was the ending.

Lots of fun!

While i wouldn't say that this is the best film I've ever seen, I think it was much better than most reviews I've seen make it out to be. Yes, there are some MAJOR plot problems, but unlike other movies that can't seem to decide whether they're comedy or horror (e.g., this summer's "The Mummy") I was able to overlook them and just sit back and enjoy myself.Helen Mirren is wonderful as Mrs. Tingle, sometimes giving you small glimpses into her softer side only to turn right around and make you wonder what it was you saw. She was also given what was, in my opinion, the best line in the movie: "Oh, my poor dear. I hope you're a very good waitress" (or something close to that) in reference to the acting ability of one of the teenagers.As for the teenagers, the only one who really stood out to me was Marisa Coughlin. Her Linda Blair (from "The Exorcist" spoof is such fun, and I found myself wishing I were there for the filming of it, not only to watch her, but to watch Helen Mirren sitting on the bed with Marisa flailing at her feet.Katie Holmes and Barry Watson filled their roles fine, not especially memorably. Basically, the roles could have been played by any young actors who might conceivably play high school students.The one other person I really enjoyed was Liz Stauber as Trudie, the brown-nosing stuck-up twit. True, her character is a stereotype pulled from quite a few other films (and from real life). But, in the scene where she loses self-control, I found myself wishing she had been allowed to take it further.Overall, I think this was a very fun film and worth a night out.