Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999)

The Worst Film Ever

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

This movie is 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!! A little bit of humor and situations that keep the characters getting deeper and deeper into trouble is only half of what drives this movie. the other half is Helen Mirren and her portrayal of the evil teacher. While the other actors in the film are great, it is certainly Mrs. Mirren that steals the show. Although, I would have liked to have seen more of her evil, it still worked out well. Not even close to horror, only vaguely comedy, this is a roller coaster teen drama that doesn't stop until the final credits. The real problem with this movie is that writer director Kevin Williamson made a poor choice to tie the films best feature to a bedpost and leave her there motionless for most of the film. To fill in the missing action, the story had to slither into its side stories which unfortunately revolve around tedious adolescent dramas. I guess he made a choice to do a humorous parody on the Exorcist, yet this very choice placed the film on an endless downward trajectory, it peters out, flat-lines, and once it does it never recovers. It creates an maddening film experience in that it starts off so promising only to lose all its bubbles and go flat. I mostly recommend this to teens, adults might not find it as interesting as teens.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Before watching this I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. Granted, it's not a work of art, but it's better than a lot of movies that are out there.The basic story revolves around Leigh Ann Watson getting caught by Mrs. Tingle with answers to an exam only less than a week away from graduation (and she has to get an A in Tingle's class to be valedictorian and get a scholarship). What Tingle doesn't realize is that her other student Luke was the one who made the copy of the answers and stuck it in there. So Leigh Ann, Luke, and Leigh Ann's best friend Jo Lynn go to Tingle's house to try to talk her into believing that it was not Leigh Ann that was cheating.Tingle thinks it will be "scandalous" and after a mishap involving an arrow almost killing Tingle, she is tied up and held hostage by the three teens for several days while they try to cover up their tracks and make sure that nobody finds out. Pretty much the next hour or so of the movie is in Tingle's house. She gets Jo Lynn and Leigh Ann to turn on each other by telling them fabricated stories from her past that revolve around both girls' attractions toward Luke.The ending was kind of corny, but most movie endings are anyway so I guess the writer(s) has my forgiveness for that.All in all, it was a pretty good watch. If you have a good hour and a half to kill, I would recommend this movie. It's not a bad movie, and even if you don't like the genre it does what a lot of movies can't do - entertain. It may not be the most believable movie ever, but overall I found it to be surprisingly good.

Teaching Mrs. Tingle is a wonderful film... by far my most favorite comedy/drama film. It is a indie film (meaning it is not low budget but it is not sold in stores or not noticed or heard about much) but it is a wonderful and funny movie to watch. It has very good music and a very good story line. The artwork on the cover tells it all, the main cast members all black and white with a really red apple lol. I really suggest everyone to rent or buy this movie. Great Cast members Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek, Batman begins) Barry Watson (7th Heaven) Marrisa Coughlan (Freddy Got Fingered) and Helen Mirren (The Queen, National Treasure 2)

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.