Superstar (film)

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Superstar
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Bruce McCulloch
Produced by	Lorne Michaels
Written by	Steve Koren
Starring	Molly Shannon Will Ferrell Harland Williams Elaine Hendrix Tom Green Mark McKinney
Music by	Michael Gore (Song: "You Wanna Be A Star")
Cinematography	Walt Lloyd
Editing by	Malcolm Campbell
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	October 8, 1999
Running time	81 min
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$14,000,000
IMDb profile

Superstar is a 1999 comedy movie and Saturday Night Live spin-off about a quirky, socially inept girl named Mary Katherine Gallagher. The character was created by SNL star Molly Shannon and appeared as a recurring character on SNL in numerous skits. The story follows Mary Katherine trying to find her place in her Catholic high school. The movie is directed by former Kids in the Hall member Bruce McCulloch.

It stars Molly Shannon, Will Ferrell and Elaine Hendrix. SNL and Kids in the Hall alum Mark McKinney, who appeared in many of the Mary Katherine Gallagher SNL skits on TV, also has a minor role as a priest.

Molly Shannon received a nomination for Blockbuster Entertainment Award "Favorite Actress - Comedy", but lost out to Heather Graham in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Mary Katherine Gallagher (Shannon) is a Catholic school girl and social outcast and dates a tree, in a crazy high school. She wants to be a superstar so she can get a kiss from Sky Corrigan (Ferrell). When Mary is sent to Special Education, she makes a new best friend, the tomboyish and equally socially-awkward Helen Lewengrub (Emmy Laybourne).

Mary sees her chance to become a superstar when her school promotes a talent show. She wants to try out, but Grandma Gallagher (Glynis Johns), will not let her. Mary Katherine Gallagher tries out anyway, and when she goes to sign up, a stereotypical cheerleader, Evian Carrie Graham (Elaine Hendrix), gets in a fight with her. The fight causes Evian and Sky to break up, and now Sky is a "single hunk of beefcake on the rebound". Mary is now determined to get in the talent show so Sky will notice her. When Grandma Gallagher finds out that her granddaughter got into the talent show, she finally tells the truth about how her parents died - they were stomped to death while performing in a Riverdance-like competition. This is why Grandma Gallagher is against her granddaughter performing.

However, Grandma Gallagher decides to help Mary do her act in the talent show, as long as she performs for herself. Mary and the other Special Education students spend days practicing. Mary Katherine Gallagher wins the competition as well as Sky's heart. When she kisses Sky though, she discovers he is a horrible kisser and chooses to kiss Slater (Harland Williams) instead.

An important plot element concerns Mary's relationship with God, who bears the same appearance as Sky (i.e. Mary's subconscious image of God). God appears before Mary in several key occasions to give her guidance and encouragement.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

Actors Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon, and Mark McKinney all appeared together in another film, A Night at the Roxbury. In that movie, Ferrell was also Shannon's romantic interest. McKinney also plays a church figure in both films.
A green VW Bug can be seen in the background of any outdoor scene, sometime multiples in a single scene, this is a possible reference to Bullitt during the climatic chase scene a green VW bug is about the only car that can be seen over and over again driving through the streets.
When Mary is auditioning for the talent contest, Evian causes a bucket of blue paint to hit and pour on her from a rope attached to it which is a reference to Carrie.
In every scene occurring in church, Ave Maria is being sung.
Molly Shannon flashes her panties 17 times in this film, possibly an American cinema panty-flashing record.
Mary told Evian that her parents named her after bottled water. That was a reference to the brand of bottled water and a city in France.
Mary watches "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble," a 1970's made-for-tv movie starring John Travolta, while on the clock as the rewind girl in a local video rental store.