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Teaching Mrs. Tingle
Dimension Films


9.8

based on 32 reviews
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based on 7 votes
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Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for thematic content, violence, sexuality, language and some teen drinking

Starring Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes, Barry Watson, Marisa Coughlin, Vivica A. Fox, Jeffrey Tambor, and Molly Ringwald

All her life Leigh Ann Watson (Holmes) has done the right thing. Her only ticket out of town is the one scholarship that goes to her school's top student. All she needs is an "A" in history. There's just one problem: Mrs. Tingle, the history teacher who for 20 years has terrorized the students of Grandsboro High. (Dimension Films)

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Kevin Williamson
DIRECTED BY:	Kevin Williamson
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: December 21, 1999 Video: July 11, 2000 Theatrical: August 20, 1999
RUNNING TIME:	96 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

A dark, biting comedy-- funny, smart and full of unpredictable twist and turns.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

In his knockout directorial debut writer Kevin Williamson taps into such universal memories with his shrewd and energetic dark comedy.

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

Flecked with delicious malice, and the kids, especially newcomer Coughlin, performs with verve and high energy.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Not surprisingly, the best thing on the screen is Mirren.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Williamson's screenplay doesn't match the cleverness of his conceit; it lacks the requisite archness and wit.

Newsweek Ted Gideonse

There are some very funny moments, and Coughlan is a delight as Leigh Anne's best friend.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

Wholly predictable and implausible plotting, thin characterizations, and stilted dialogue.

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

Mirren is about the only reason this slow-moving revenge tale tingles at all.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Very much a freshman effort, lacking focus, edge.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

The same bland vision of teendom that's become inescapable on the small and big screens.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

A derisively vicious show-off satire, a plastic exercise in authority bashing.

Portland Oregonian Diana Abu-Jaber

The tone of the film malingers somewhere between hyper-real comedy and thriller, but neither element really shines through.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Williamson's directorial debut is a sad affair, devoid of shocks, surprises, or even his clever trademark diologue.

Time Richard Corliss

It's too empty to applaud, too insignificant to deplore.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

A wildly uneven and sloppily directed movie, full of clashing tones and undigested bits of superior films.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

Newly benign and noticeably clumsier than the hits (Williamson) has written.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Neither very dark nor particularly funny.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Williamson deals mostly in cliches, as if high schoolers weren't smart enough to appreciate anything subtler.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

An ugly, failed attempt to pull off a "Heathers"-style, teen-oriented black comedy.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

There is nothing funny about the situation in Teaching Mrs. Tingle.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Mostly a screenful of nothingness.

Film.com John Hartl

Underwhelming thriller.

Film.com Peter Brunette

The new dud from Miramax's Dimension label.

Variety Dennis Harvey

A pat, hollow exercises with few tricks (or treats) up its sleeve.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

Yet another black comedy that misunderstands and misrepresents the genre.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Williamson's script, which he also directed, is spiteful and shallow.

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

An infuriatingly indulgent piffle of adolescent wish-fulfillment.

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

A mean-hearted, ham-handed and gratuitous effort to exploit it's teenage audience's conviction that, underneath it all, their teachers really. do hate them.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A spectacularly mediocre movie.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

The story is painfully slow.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Lazily written and hopelessly miscast.

TNT RoughCut Christopher Brandon

One of the worst movies released this year.