| Teaching Mrs. Tingle | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Kevin Williamson |
| Produced by | Cathy Konrad |
| Written by | Kevin Williamson |
| Starring | Katie Holmes Helen Mirren Barry Watson Marisa Coughlan |
| Music by | John Frizzell |
| Cinematography | Jerzy Zielinski |
| Editing by | Debra Neil-Fisher |
| Studio | Konrad Pictures Interscope Communications |
| Distributed by | Dimension Films |
| Release date(s) | August 20, 1999 |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $13,000,000 (estimated) |
Teaching Mrs. Tingle is a 1999 black comedy film and the directing debut of screenwriter Kevin Williamson. The film stars Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes, Marisa Coughlan, Barry Watson and Jeffrey Tambor and was released on August 20, 1999. It was originally titled Killing Mrs. Tingle, but delayed and retitled due to the uproar over teen violence in films after the Columbine High School massacre.
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Leigh Ann (Katie Holmes) is a high school student who wants to achieve top grades to become valedictorian. However, her grade in History class is threatened by her sadistic teacher, Mrs. Tingle (Helen Mirren). Mrs. Tingle has a special dislike for Leigh Ann and down-grades Leigh Ann's well-designed project. Luke takes the final exam papers from Mrs. Tingle and makes a copy. He offers the papers to Leigh Ann but she insists on refusing to cheat. Ultimately, Luke stashes the papers in Leigh Ann's backpack without her consent. Out of nowhere Mrs. Tingle happens by, discovers the papers in her backpack, and threatens to have her expelled for it.
Leigh Ann and her two friends, Luke (Barry Watson) and Jo Lynn (Marisa Coughlan), head to Mrs. Tingle's house that night and try to convince the teacher that Leigh Ann is innocent. Mrs. Tingle, however, does not listen. A physical struggle ensues and Mrs. Tingle is accidentally knocked unconscious. The students panic and tie Mrs. Tingle to her bed. Pretending to be Mrs. Tingle, Jo Lynn calls the school the next morning and feigns illness in order to buy themselves some time, but all are unsure of what they should do next. Mrs. Tingle eventually reveals that she hates Leigh Ann because, unlike her, Leigh Ann has the potential to leave their small town and experience life, but her honesty only furthers her captors' dislike of her. She also opines that Leigh Ann does not have the guts to do anything that will get her in trouble; in response, an angry and infuriated Leigh Ann kisses Luke and has sex with him on Mrs. Tingle's couch.
The next day at school, Jo Lynn ignores Leigh Ann because she had a crush – a crush Leigh Ann had been aware of, on Luke. A regretful Leigh Ann tries to make amends with Jo Lynn, but an admission that she'd had sex with Luke further infuriates Jo Lynn.
Leigh Ann, Luke, and Jo Lynn decide to blackmail Mrs. Tingle by producing photographic evidence of her love affair with the school's gym teacher. Before they can enact their plot, however, Mrs. Tingle escapes from her bonds. After a fight at the top of the staircase, she seemingly falls to her death but then quickly recovers, scrambles to her feet, and picks up a crossbow. She fires it wildly, trying to hit Leigh Ann. Trudie Tucker (Liz Stauber) walks through the door, gets hit in the chest by the bolt, and appears to be dead just as Principal Potter (Michael McKean) arrives to check up on Mrs. Tingle. Leigh Ann forces Mrs. Tingle to tell everything that happened with her that she wanted Leigh Ann to fail, that she shot Trudie with the arrow, among other things. However, Trudie was protected by a thick textbook she was holding at her chest and was completely unharmed. Mrs. Tingle is fired for attempted murder of a student, and the final scene of the film shows Leigh Ann being named valedictorian.
The film received mostly negative reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes measuring a 19% approval rating.[1] Roger Ebert compared the film to Election in its concept but said that Teaching Mrs. Tingle fell short of Election in wit, and in that Teaching Mrs. Tingle had no sympathethic characters. Ebert complimented Mirren's acting, however.[2]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Helen Mirren | Mrs. Eve Tingle |
| Katie Holmes | Leigh Ann Watson |
| Jeffrey Tambor | Coach Richard 'Spanky' Wenchell |
| Barry Watson | Luke Turner |
| Marisa Coughlan | Jo Lynn Jordan |
| Liz Stauber | Trudie Tucker |
| Michael McKean | Principal Potter |
| Lesley Ann Warren | Mrs Faye Watson |
| Molly Ringwald | Miss Banks |
| Vivica A. Fox | Miss Gold |
| John Patrick White | Brian Berry |
| Robert Gant | Professor |
The film made US$3.3 million in its opening weekend, debuting at #10 at the North American box office.