| Superstar | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Bruce McCulloch |
| Written by | Steve Koren |
| Based on | Mary Katherine Gallagher by Molly Shannon |
| Produced by | Lorne Michaels |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Walt Lloyd |
| Edited by | Malcolm Campbell |
| Music by | Michael Gore |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $14 million[1] |
| Box office | $30.6 million[2] |
Superstar is a 1999 Americanromantic comedy film and aSaturday Night Livespin-off about a quirky, socially inept girl namedMary Katherine Gallagher.[3] The character was created bySNL starMolly Shannon and appeared as a recurring character onSNL in numerous skits.[3]
The story follows Mary Katherine trying to find her place in herRoman Catholicprivate school. The movie is directed byKids in the Hall memberBruce McCulloch. It stars Molly Shannon,Will Ferrell,Elaine Hendrix,Harland Williams,Mark McKinney, who appeared in many of the Mary Katherine GallagherSNL skits on TV, andGlynis Johns in her final film.[4]
Molly Shannon received a nomination forBlockbuster Entertainment Award "Favorite Actress - Comedy" but lost out toHeather Graham inAustin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
As a child, Mary Katherine Gallagher rescues a boy with a distinctive birthmark at the public pool. An orphan, she lives with her grandmother, and becomes obsessed with achieving "superstardom" and having her first kiss.
At St. Monica'sCatholic high school, Mary dreams of kissing Sky Corrigan, the most popular boy in school, but her awkwardness brands her a social outcast. Caught kissing a tree, she is placed inspecial education, where she befriends Helen Lewengrub, and new "bad boy" student Eric Slater takes an interest in her.
A schooltalent show is announced with the chance to win a trip toHollywood and be amovie extra. Mary's grandmother forbids her from participating, but Helen urges her to audition anyway, as does a vision ofJesus.
When she tries to sign up, Mary finds herself in an altercation with head cheerleader Evian Graham, Sky's girlfriend. Mary's grandmother reveals the true reason she will not let Mary perform – Mary's parents were stomped to death during anIrish dance competition.
Having witnessed the fight with Mary, Sky breaks up with Evian, who swears revenge on Mary. Auditioning for the talent show, Mary performs an impassioned rendition of "Sometimes When We Touch". Evian dumps a bucket of paint on her, inspired byCarrie; humiliated, Mary flees the school with Slater.
Slater brings Mary to the pool, revealing that he was the boy she saved years ago, and they bond during an impromptu swim. Returning home, she finds her grandmother has been informed that Mary earned a place in the talent show. Finally allowing her to perform, Mary's grandmother coaches her and a chorus line of her special education classmates.
As the talent show begins, Evian apologizes to Mary, revealing she and Sky will be dancing together. Mary resolves to perform not to impress Sky, but for herself. In a last-minuteconfession, Mary relinquishes her dream of becoming a star, instead asking to survive the performance for her grandmother's sake.
Mary and her friends perform to "Out Here on My Own" as Slater, summoned by another vision of Jesus, arrives just in time to watch. The record player inadvertently speeds up, and Mary falls – echoing her parents' fatal performance – but, encouraged by Jesus, she successfully leads her friends through their performance. Met with a standing ovation, Mary wins the talent show. Sky kisses her, but she rejects him, and kisses Slater.
The film ends as Mary, now dating Slater, kisses the tree goodbye.
The film received mixed reviews from critics. On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 32% of 74 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Dumb script and flat jokes made this another SNL misfire."[5]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 42 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[6] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film a grade "C+" on scale of A to F.[7]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times rated the film one star out of four, writing: "Here is a portrait of a character so sad and hapless, so hard to like, so impossible to empathize with, that watching it feels like an act of unkindness." He furthermore described Shannon's character as "hostile" and "not very nice", stating that "She's one of those people who inspires in you the inexplicable desire to be hurtful and cruel".[8]James Berardinelli ofReelViews, who gave the film two out of four stars, said that "Molly Shannon is a likable, energetic performer" and some of the jokes were "actually funny", but there would still not be "enough here to justify a feature-length movie". He also felt the film's attempts "at developing Mary into something more than a two-dimensional caricature" were pointless since "the script doesn't show any respect for her".[9] Dennis Harvey ofVariety magazine gave a positive review, calling the film a "pleasant surprise" as he expected only mediocrity from anotherSaturday Night Live adaptation. He said it is "amusing" but "uneven", suggesting it might build good word of mouth and do well but would be unlikely to reach the commercial success ofWayne's World.[10]
