Anybody that watched "Saturday Night Live" back in 1999 knows about Mary Katherine Gallagher. Comedian Molly Shannon portrays Mary as a klutzy, disaster-prone, teenage ugly duckling who has trouble fitting in at a stuffy Catholic school. Wearing dorky horn-rimmed, birth control glasses, she obsesses over kissing Mr. Right and attaining media super-stardom. The 'in-crowd' hoots at her, while the 'out' crowd adores her. Mary Katherine is the kind of stereotypical screw-up we are meant to laugh as much as love.
Obviously, "SNL" producer Lorne Michaels felt there was something about this Mary that made her a prime Hollywood property. Some "SNL" characters, such as Wayne and Garth, survived the transition from boob tube to the big screen. Although "Superstar" qualifies as the comic equivalent of "Rocky," this spasmodically unfunny farce proves that Shannon's character was better off on TV than in the movies. Almost as abysmal as Julia Sweeney's "It's Pat: The Movie," Mary Katherine Gallagher's bid for cinematic immortality wears out its welcome long before its flatulent 82-minutes buffoonery runs out of gas.
A spin-off from the popular "SNL" sketch, "Superstar" depicts the outlandish antics of an orphaned teenager, Mary Katherine Gallaher, who lives in the ugliest house on the block in a small town called Besame. By the way, Besame translates as 'kiss me' in Spanish. Gallagher's hard-hearted grandmother (Glynnis Johns), who hates showbiz with a passion, struggles to keep Mary Katherine focused on a future as a businesswoman. According to Grandma, a school of hammer headed sharks devoured Mary's parents.
The truth is that they got stomped to death on a dance floor when an accelerated record player triggered a nervous breakdown among their fellow dancers. As a result, Grandma wants Mary to avoid show business. Nevertheless, poor Mary wants to enter the "Let's Find VD Talent Show" sponsored by Catholic Teen magazine at St. Monica Catholic High School. The winners gets a chance to appear as an extra in a movie with "positive moral values." While Mary Katherine dreams about super-stardom, her chief rival, Evian (Elaine Hendrix), a popular but mean-spirited cheerleader, devises schemes to humiliate our heroine.
Bulimic Evian manages to keep Mary Katherine off the cheerleading squad and wants to prevent her from entering the talent contest. Meanwhile, Mary Katherine fantasizes about kissing St. Monica football hero Sky Corrigan ("SNL's" hilariously funny Will Ferrell) and stealing him from Evian. Evian mounts a down-and-dirty campaign to degrade Mary, pulling off all the predictable pranks when she isn't acting like a "Heathers"-bent-for leather ice queen.
"A Night in Roxbury" scenarist Steve Koren's dumb and dumber screenplay makes Mary Katherine into a classic underdog heroine we can root for no matter how horribly the opposition treats her. Indeed, Mary Katherine resembles a teenage version of the woebegone heroine in "Welcome to the Dollhouse." Of course, Mary Katherine will emerge triumphant after one too many setbacks, and the smug villains will get their just comeuppance. Unhappily, "Superstar" boasts few surprises, fewer laughs, and lacks the overall subversive hilarity of "There's Something about Mary." Certainly, "Superstar" ribs the Catholic Church, but nothing as derogatory as director Kevin Smith's "Dogma" distinguishes this timid, status quo burlesque. They make fun of Father Ritley (a beetle-browed Mark McKinney) when he crunches his toast in front of several nuns ,and then orders them to find out why the toaster burnt his bread. Sure, "Superstar provokes an occasional laugh, but not enough to redeem this nonsense. Mary Katherine is at her funniest in small doses. We chuckle when a nun catches her huggingas well as French kissingan oak tree. Or when she decks a nun with a high kick during a dance class. Of when she destroys everything around during a cheerleading audition. Her role as 'rewind girl' at a video store is worth a chuckle. Unfortunately, during the long stretches, she loses her spontaneity and imitates just about every other underdog that comes from behind to win despite impossible odds. The drawn-out confessional scene where Mary Katherine reverts to "Sybil" shows that somebody didn't know when to quit.
Blame for stretching Mary Katherine's exploits beyond the two-minute warning mark into an overlong 82-mintue fiasco rests not only with Koren but also with "Dog Park" director Bruce McCulloch. "A Kids in the Hall" alum himself, McCulloch does little more than usher Mary Katherine from one stupid predicament to another. The spoofs of "Carrie," "Armageddon," and "Jesus Christ Superstar" grow pretty tiresome, especially Will Ferrell's 'surfer Jesus' set to the top hit "Spirit in the Sky." The clash of the cliques plot is lame, tame, and pretty much the same as in "Never Been Kissed," "Can't Hardly Wait," and "Drive Me Crazy." Nothing new here. Never mind, also that everybody looks about 20 years too old to be playing their respective roles. Happily, the veteran cast of comedians ignores the shambles of a script and maintains a straight face throughout this hokum. As Mary Katherine's grandma, Glynnis Johns gives a spirited performance. If Forrest Gump were searching for an ideal date movie, he'd grab "Superstar."
Obviously, "SNL" producer Lorne Michaels felt there was something about this Mary that made her a prime Hollywood property. Some "SNL" characters, such as Wayne and Garth, survived the transition from boob tube to the big screen. Although "Superstar" qualifies as the comic equivalent of "Rocky," this spasmodically unfunny farce proves that Shannon's character was better off on TV than in the movies. Almost as abysmal as Julia Sweeney's "It's Pat: The Movie," Mary Katherine Gallagher's bid for cinematic immortality wears out its welcome long before its flatulent 82-minutes buffoonery runs out of gas.
A spin-off from the popular "SNL" sketch, "Superstar" depicts the outlandish antics of an orphaned teenager, Mary Katherine Gallaher, who lives in the ugliest house on the block in a small town called Besame. By the way, Besame translates as 'kiss me' in Spanish. Gallagher's hard-hearted grandmother (Glynnis Johns), who hates showbiz with a passion, struggles to keep Mary Katherine focused on a future as a businesswoman. According to Grandma, a school of hammer headed sharks devoured Mary's parents.
The truth is that they got stomped to death on a dance floor when an accelerated record player triggered a nervous breakdown among their fellow dancers. As a result, Grandma wants Mary to avoid show business. Nevertheless, poor Mary wants to enter the "Let's Find VD Talent Show" sponsored by Catholic Teen magazine at St. Monica Catholic High School. The winners gets a chance to appear as an extra in a movie with "positive moral values." While Mary Katherine dreams about super-stardom, her chief rival, Evian (Elaine Hendrix), a popular but mean-spirited cheerleader, devises schemes to humiliate our heroine.
Bulimic Evian manages to keep Mary Katherine off the cheerleading squad and wants to prevent her from entering the talent contest. Meanwhile, Mary Katherine fantasizes about kissing St. Monica football hero Sky Corrigan ("SNL's" hilariously funny Will Ferrell) and stealing him from Evian. Evian mounts a down-and-dirty campaign to degrade Mary, pulling off all the predictable pranks when she isn't acting like a "Heathers"-bent-for leather ice queen.
"A Night in Roxbury" scenarist Steve Koren's dumb and dumber screenplay makes Mary Katherine into a classic underdog heroine we can root for no matter how horribly the opposition treats her. Indeed, Mary Katherine resembles a teenage version of the woebegone heroine in "Welcome to the Dollhouse." Of course, Mary Katherine will emerge triumphant after one too many setbacks, and the smug villains will get their just comeuppance. Unhappily, "Superstar" boasts few surprises, fewer laughs, and lacks the overall subversive hilarity of "There's Something about Mary." Certainly, "Superstar" ribs the Catholic Church, but nothing as derogatory as director Kevin Smith's "Dogma" distinguishes this timid, status quo burlesque. They make fun of Father Ritley (a beetle-browed Mark McKinney) when he crunches his toast in front of several nuns ,and then orders them to find out why the toaster burnt his bread. Sure, "Superstar provokes an occasional laugh, but not enough to redeem this nonsense. Mary Katherine is at her funniest in small doses. We chuckle when a nun catches her huggingas well as French kissingan oak tree. Or when she decks a nun with a high kick during a dance class. Of when she destroys everything around during a cheerleading audition. Her role as 'rewind girl' at a video store is worth a chuckle. Unfortunately, during the long stretches, she loses her spontaneity and imitates just about every other underdog that comes from behind to win despite impossible odds. The drawn-out confessional scene where Mary Katherine reverts to "Sybil" shows that somebody didn't know when to quit.
Blame for stretching Mary Katherine's exploits beyond the two-minute warning mark into an overlong 82-mintue fiasco rests not only with Koren but also with "Dog Park" director Bruce McCulloch. "A Kids in the Hall" alum himself, McCulloch does little more than usher Mary Katherine from one stupid predicament to another. The spoofs of "Carrie," "Armageddon," and "Jesus Christ Superstar" grow pretty tiresome, especially Will Ferrell's 'surfer Jesus' set to the top hit "Spirit in the Sky." The clash of the cliques plot is lame, tame, and pretty much the same as in "Never Been Kissed," "Can't Hardly Wait," and "Drive Me Crazy." Nothing new here. Never mind, also that everybody looks about 20 years too old to be playing their respective roles. Happily, the veteran cast of comedians ignores the shambles of a script and maintains a straight face throughout this hokum. As Mary Katherine's grandma, Glynnis Johns gives a spirited performance. If Forrest Gump were searching for an ideal date movie, he'd grab "Superstar."