Teaching Mrs. Tingle
Teaching Mrs. Tingle
PG-13 | 11 August 1999 (USA)
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A bright high-school senior has her impending status as valedictorian jeopardized when her bitter history teacher, Mrs. Tingle, gives her a poor grade on a project. When an attempt to get ahead in Mrs. Tingle's class goes awry, mayhem ensues and friendships, loyalties and trust are tested by the teacher's intricate mind-games.

Reviews
Smartorhypo

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Sexyloutak

Absolutely the worst movie.

Usamah Harvey

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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Maleeha Vincent

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

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Dragoneyed363

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.

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Chrysanthepop

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.

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lost-in-limbo

History teacher Mrs Tingle seems to have it in for student Leigh Ann Watson, who has her heart on achieving a writing school scholarship. She receives another low grade from Tingle, which doesn't help. When one of her classmates Luke steals the paper of the final history exams and pops it in her bag, Mrs. Tingle finds it sticking out. She threatens the three that she will go to the principal about it, but he's not available. So before she reports it the next morning. Leigh, her friend Jo Lynn and Scott head to her place that night and try to convince her not tell the principal. However due to Tingle's stubbornness, that find themselves reverting to drastic measures to stop this getting out.Wasn't fan of it when I first saw it, and after another viewing, I'm still not one. Writer Kevin Williamson was on a roll after penning the successful contemporary teen horror films; 'Scream (1996)', 'I Know What You did Last Summer (1997)', 'Scream 2 (1997)' and 'The Faculty (1998)'. He was riding the success (also not to forget the TV show 'Dawson's Creek), but this project would be the final bump. The difference there, compared with this entry was other then writing the screenplay, he was also making his debut in directing. The strange thing though, was that I found his direction to be competently done, but material he stormed up to flavourless and tired. It seemed to get caught in playing both a black comedy and straight-out thriller, without making it gel. The script is cluttered with quick-wit, on-going gags, trivial stretches and gimmicky references towards other films, but the problem is that it's too watered-down with so many contrived developments and sappy moral currents disrupting the flow. The fractured script had to be more strong and potent, since it's a small-scale production that feels like you're watching a stage show because of its mostly confined sets. It tries to play mind games with the characters, but these moments are there to only serve the story's poor progression into a puddle of stupidity and senselessness. The film's ending takes the cake. Williamson's polished direction is sound, but more so in a pedestrian way and therefore it lacks suspense and the pacing even with its taut surroundings can really plod on. You eventually feel it after the halfway mark, and it shows up how minor the story is. The performances are tolerable enough, although if it weren't for Helen Mirren's classy, icy portrayal of manipulative prowess as Mrs. Tingle and a buoyant Marisa Coughlan, we would have been stuck watching a vapid goody-to-shoes Katie Holmes. Barry Watson is modest in his slacker part and Molly Ringwald has a lesser role. The soundtrack packs enough energy, but I found it terribly overwrought and shapeless in its choices.Watchable, but mechanical all round.

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vchimpanzee

I've heard bad things about this movie, but I saw nothing truly terrible about it except the fear someone will try to copy what took place.It's just a fantasy! Many high school kids have dreamed of doing such a thing to their teachers. I was surprised, given the film's original title, that Mrs. Tingle didn't die right away when the kids first attacked her. But that would have made this an entirely different film.And we would have missed yet another outstanding performance by the great Helen Mirren. Okay, in my case, I'm not sure I ever saw her before this. But right from her very first lines, I knew Mrs. Tingle was going to be a villain I truly enjoyed watching. Not a campy villain, but someone who was a real pleasure to watch. Not someone to hate because you would normally be on the side of good, but a character to take pleasure in as she tortures or humiliates all around her. Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor and Larry Hagman's J. R. Ewing come to mind.This woman showed no fear or vulnerability (except when she was faking being seriously hurt), even though those kids might have killed her at any time. But she apparently knew they weren't capable of such a thing. When she almost died, it was an accident. The one teen was threatening her, true, but somehow none of these kids seemed capable of doing such a thing.The actors playing the teens were pretty good too. Not in a league with their co-star, but not bad either. Jeffrey Tambor impressed as well with a campy appearance. So someone like this CAN have a boyfriend!The teens went through many the moral and ethical considerations. As the revised title suggests, they taught Mrs. Tingle a lesson (or did they?), and learned lessons themselves. They didn't just get away with it. Or did they? Some may be shocked at the ending. Although I know of one character we all wanted to see get what he/she deserved, and that did happen.It was a good film overall.

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