Superstar (1999)

Boring

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

I gotta tell ya, Molly Shannon really stood out like a girl who just wants to be like everyone else. This movie relates to what my life was like being in a catholic school and believe me, it wasn't a funny experience like what the movie thinks it is! I wish in the end that Mary Catherine Gallagher and Will Ferrell's character became a couple. Although I have to admit Slater had a good catchy theme song and a motorbike but still, the story should really have stuck with the movie cover cause in that way, no SNL fans will be annoyed!You have been warned if you think Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon live happily ever after cause by god, don't fell through the trap like I did!

Mary Katherine Gallagher (Molly Shannon) is an ugly duckling weirdo from St. Monica High School. She's tormented by mean girl Evian (Elaine Hendrix), and has a secret crush on Sky Corrigan (Will Ferrell).Director Bruce McCulloch from 'Kids in the Hall' tries to put this super successful SNL character onto the big screen. The school is filled with strange insane characters. Some of them are even funny. However the movie suffers from Mary Katherine Gallagher's low energy speaking voice. It needs to be countered by more energy from the other characters especially Sky. The physical stuff is very funny, and it's no coincidence that's when Mary is at her highest energy output. The basic storyline is ripped from countless other high school fare. A lot of references are made to Carrie. Molly Shannon commits completely. Elaine Hendrix shines brightly as the queen bee. But Will Ferrell is too reserved.

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 hugging—as well as French kissing—an 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."

I remember watching this movie when I was working in America in the year 2000 with my cousin and absolutely pissing my pants with laughter at it.I then totally forgot about it until I noticed it on a website for sale for like £3 and thought I would buy it and see if it was as funny as I remembered. It was - and it was funnier the second time around.Molly Shannon is an underrated comedic actress who we should see more often and who should be given lead roles on a more regular basis as she is absolutely hilarious in Superstar.This movie has absolutely no point and no story but is just full of class comedy moments which make me chuckle over and over again. And not only is Ms Shannon rather good in it - Will Ferrell is on top form before he made it big time. Its just a shame he didn't drag Molly with him and make her as big a star as she is.Get her in the Frat Pack now! Oh - and this movie is well funny so I recommend it highly to anyone with a sense of humour!