TEACHING MRS. TINGLE

Helen Mirren

TEACHING MRS. TINGLE (1999). Written and directed by Kevin Williamson.

When it appears that three high school students have been trying to steal test questions, their very nasty teacher Mrs. Tingle (Helen Mirren) promises that they are going to pay dearly. This is especially bad news for Leigh (Katie Holmes), who is hoping to go to Harvard. She and her friend, Trudie (Liz Stauber), go to Tingle's home to beg and plead, and the woman winds up getting hit by a crossbow! Instead of calling for an ambulance, the young ladies tie her to her bed and hope for the best. Mrs. Tingle revives, but how can Leigh and Trudy convince their teacher not to go to the police? 

Young cast members of Tingle up against Mirren

Frankly, I thought that Teaching Mrs. Tingle might wind up in one of my "Films I Never Quite Finished" posts more than once, but at least the picture is unpredictable, and while I can't say I particularly liked the movie, I did want to see how it would all turn out. Helen Mirren, if course, easily out-acts the rest of the cast, although they manage to acquit themselves in a more or less professional manner. Jeffrey Tambor is also good as Coach Wenchell, who winds up unwittingly helping Leigh in her goal. The irritating thing is that the only really guilty party (to the original offense) is a jerk named Luke (Barry Watson), who never once offers to take the blame and let the gals off the hook. Michael McKean is the principal; Lesley Ann Warren is Leigh's mother; Molly Ringwald is Miss Banks; and Viveca A. Fox scores as another teacher, Miss Gold. The characters are virtually all unsympathetic and the movie, written and helmed by the writer of the Scream movies, is morally bankrupt. 

Verdict: Well, at least it's somewhat different and a wonderful Mirren is always watchable. **1/4.