Teaching Mrs. Tingle

Teaching Mrs. Tingle could've been a well executed black comedy but instead it falls flat on its face. The first half is well executed but as the film moves on it becomes an utter mess of a movie. Kevin Williamson had about 2 and a half good ideas in his body(Scream,Scream 2, and The Faculty). His other films are just plain generic and it's hard to believe that something like this was written by the guy who wrote scream.

The premise is a nice set-up for a potential good comedy. Mrs.Tingle is the most hated teacher at school because she's, for a lack of a better word, a b#$ch. Katie Holmes plays a student who is trying desperately be valedectorian so she can get out of the town and history-a class taught by tingle, is the only thing standing in her way. When Tingle discovers a copy of the final exam in her back-pack she intends on telling the principal. when herself and her friends go to her house to try and reason with her, lets just say that get more than they bargained for.

What I liked:

Marissa Coughlan is a good actress and her performnce is actually one of the saving graces of this film. She posseses a lot of spunk and energy. Her Exorcist scene, while unnecessary, is quite entertaining.

Helen Mirren is suitably devilish as Mrs. Tingle. She brings experience to an other-wise mediocre movie.

The first half of the film is actually pretty good. The class-room scene in the first half is really good. Too bad the rest of the film isn't all that great.

What I Didn't Like:

Katie Holmes was cute in this film and she gives a cute performance but i'm tired of seeing her talent given to drivel like this. Thank God she followed this up with Wonder Boys and The Gift.

Barry watson is plain boring in his role and i found him to be completely uninteresting in his role

The ending is jsut plain dumb. It ends on such a disappointing note. I wanted a better outcome and i got this garbage.

The cheesy love scene between holmes and watson was so unnecessary. They lacked chemistry to evne make the scene sizzle.

Good idea wasted in tepid film i expected better from williamson in his directorial debut but instead i get this. what a shame.

5.5/10

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.

This isn't a dreadful film, merely insipid. The plot is deeply flawed and implausible. It tries to be a number of genres and fails at each. It fails as a comedy, as a suspense thriller and as a horror movie. It almost succeeds as science fiction. The direction is uninspired and Katie Holmes, cute cherub face that she is, should be modeling teen clothing, not acting. The only thing that keeps this movie from being a 1 out of 10 is Helen Mirren. Her performance is fabulously nefarious and is (almost) worth suffering through the rest of it. Her ability to transmute from imperious to faux sympathetic to deviously manipulate and control her prey shows masterful range. Other than Marissa Coughlin's delightful Exorcist rendition, Mirren is the only reason to see this movie. A solid 3.0.

I will have to disagree with many comments on this movie saying that it was only a bomb. I thought this movie was quite interesting, surely not a great one, but good. The high point of this movie, in fact, is Helen Mirren. I was quite impressed with her inspiring performance - it kind of reminded me of Kathy Bates in "Misery". It is quite rare to see such a great performance like Helen Mirren's in an horror/suspense movie and this is the main reason why I have decided to comment on "Teaching Mrs. Tingle".

First of all, Helen Mirren alone is worth watching in this. Don't take it too seriously and watch it for what it is - a late 90s teen romp, often pretty exceting, but also pretty funny, and you'll have a good time.