Teaching Mrs. Tingle

Rating:
Summary: Teaching Mrs. Tingle is a brilliant black comedy
Review: Unfortunately, this brilliant movie was all but overlooked at the box office. Perhaps this is from pressure from teachers and parents who believed it promoted violence against teachers w/o ever seeing it. I believe it is this compounded with the fact that a teen film is rated R, thus no one under 17 can go w/o parents and who wants to go with parents? Then the parents don't go b/c they think it will be a teen movie. It's a vicious cycle and it lead to this outrageous, brilliant, endlessly inventive, creative, and original film not getting the money it deserved. The truth is this is an amazing satire/horror film about those horrible teachers who constantly pollute high schools--cruel, evil monsters who feel determined upon making students' lives miserable, praying that they will fail in life. This situation happens all of the time. However in this film one teacher goes too far, and....See the movie to find out. In it are brilliant performances by Katie Holmes and Helen Mirren. You will not be disappointed and you will never guess how it will ever wrap up well.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Movie!
Review: This was one of the best movies I have seen recently. Kevin Williamson clearly shows off all his talent with a very witty script and shows that he can also direct. The movie follows Leigh Ann Watson (Holmes) as she struggles to get a much needed scholarship to get into college. All she needs is an A in History. When the history teacher Mrs. Tingle (Mirren) falsely accuses her of cheating, her two friends Jo Lynn (Coughlan) and Luke (Watson), go to Mrs. Tingle's house to prove Leigh Ann innocent. When their plan goes way out of control, they decide that it is time to give her lesson! This movie shines with talent from Helen Mirren who is perfect for the role as the teacher from hell. The teen cast was impressive as well. Katie Holmes plays the role of Leigh Ann with such sympathy, you really get pulled into the situation. And the new actress Marisa Coughlan pulls off an amazing performance, certainty one of the best highlights of this film was seeing her comedic scenes, especially when she imitates perfectly Linda Blairs performance in The Exorcist. Barry Watson also did an impressive job in the role as Luke, the boy Jo Lynn and Leigh Ann both secretly have crushes on. Molly Ringwald and Vivica A. Fox both have cameos as members of Grandsboro High Schools staff. Overall, this movie is wonderful in all genres. It is a wonderful comedy, drama, and thriller all rolled into one great movie. If you didn't catch this one in theaters, you should definitely rent it. You won't regret it! Grade: A

Rating:
Summary: terrible
Review: This movie is a stinker, one of the worst I've seen in my life. The characters are completely one-dimensional archetypes, and as another reviewer has noted, just devices to keep the sloppy plot moving forward. Mirren can't manage to make Mrs. Tingle believable, because the writing is so poor. This is inspite of being a finer actress, by several orders of magnitude, than the other leads. The conclusion is mind-numbingly and spirit-chrushingly inept: 3 kids hold a person hostage for several days, yet at graduation one of them wins the award for best student, to cheers and a cheesy pop song? It's amusing that the title was changed from Killing Mrs. Tingle out of "sensitivity" to the events in Columbine; if they'd really wanted to show some concern, the whole story should have been scrapped.

Rating:
Summary: "No More Teacher's Dirty Looks...."
Review: In the wake of Columbine, this film, originally titled "Killing Mrs. Tingle", was changed to "Teaching Mrs. Tingle". I think it sounds more appropriate. To tell you the truth, this movie isn't as bad as has been written about it. Writer Kevin Williamson is on board as director as well on this film. Three students decide to take action against a nasty teacher(brilliantly played By Helen Mirren)who thinks they were cheating on a test(which they weren't)and now stands in their way of graduating. They go to her house and a series of incidents occur which now has the three students keeping Mrs. Tingle locked up in her house, with each one of them taking turns watching her. One by one, Mrs. Tingle begins to mess with their minds. Helen Mirren is exceptionally convincing and brilliant as the nasty teacher. She will have you hooked on her through the entire film. The other stars, Katie(Dawson's Creek)Holmes, Barry(7th Heaven)Watson, and newcomer Marissa Coughlan are all pretty good. Coughlan is especially delightful. Many bad things were said about this film because of Columbine and the violence in the movie, but there is no deaths. No nothing. I think a lot of people ripped into it because of what the original title was and because of Columbine. It's obvious that they never even saw the film or read the script. It's PG-13 after all. This isn't grand filmmaking, but it's entertaining to a certain degree nonetheless. Williamson has a nice eye for directing as well. The film was loosely based on Williamson's own bad teacher. And, I think, we've all had a Mrs. Tingle. Kind of a guilty pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: Helen Mirren is sensational
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: terrible movie
Review: this was a terrible movie. everything about it is miserable.

Rating:
Summary: This is not a hilarious comedy
Review: I rented this DVD because the cover said it was a "hilarious comedy." If you just look at the concept of the movie (i.e., unfair teacher gets tied up while her bungling students try to get her to listen to them), then I suppose it's funny. However, there was very little about this movie that was funny. It should have been labeled a thriller. Helen Mirren, as Mrs. Tingle, is just as frightening as any masked ax murderer, and she does on several occasions try to kill one of the teenagers. My children and I were very disappointed--not in the acting ability of the actors (they did a fine job), but in the film being represented as something that it wasn't. It is not a comedy by any stretch of the imagination. Huge disappointment!!

Rating:
Summary: "You gave me a 'B'?!!!!"
Review: Leigh Ann Watson needs an "A" in history to get a scholarship. The teacher falsely accuses her of cheating and is confronted by her friends. Will Mrs. Tingle see the light or need some help.
I really like the original title "Killing Mrs. Tingle" that would have put a little more pathos in the movie. It is quite an IRONY. This movie looks like a training ground for "9 to 5" (1980) ASIN: 6300247236.
Helen Mirren is the perfect Mrs. Tingle; she has that look that can see through your sole and divulge your deepest fears. That same year she played Ayn Rand in Passion of Ayn Rand, The (1999). However most people remember her as Supt. Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect - Boxed Set ASIN: 6304490577.
Michael McKean made a perfect principal and you can tell he was sweating on his early encounter with Mrs. Tingle. Remember him in "Laverne & Shirley" (1976) TV Series as Lenny Kosnowski (1976-1982)?
Then there is the quick appearance of Molly Ringwald as Miss Banks. She brings back memories of Sixteen Candles (1984) ASIN: 6305078068, when she was the teenager.
If this movie looks predictable or the people's thoughts are transparent, that is the design. Now the viewer can say don't do that or oh no will they really do that? And you can see eyes narrow as the mind is plotting!
The only real disappointment was the rather arrownious solution. I may work if this was a plot for a TV series.

Rating:
Summary: fun movie
Review: this movie was alot better than i expected it to be. i got it and i was hoping i would like it but considering some of the reviews i heard, i didnt know. i watched it and it's a real witty funny film. helen mirren does an excellent job portraying the mean vicious ( mrs. tingle). this movie had some really good acting by katie holmes , barry watson and helen mirran.i liked it alot. 4 out of 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Cute and Funny
Review: Teaching Mrs. Tingle is a very clever and funny movie. My only complaint is that it tries to turn into a horror movie at the end and that doesn't work well at all. It is a cute movie and has a good cast. Worth Renting if you like any of the cast or if you just hate your history teacher. Lol.
OVERALL SCORE:85/100
Direction:18/20
Plot:16/20
Cast:18/20
Fun:17/20
Special Effects:16/20