SUPERSTAR *** (out of five stars) A review by Jamey Hughton
Starring-Molly Shannon, Will Ferrell, Elane Hendrix, Harland Williams, Mark McKinney and Glynis Johns Director-Bruce McCulloch Rated PG Released October 1999 Paramount
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Some will confuse a movie based on a Saturday Night Live sketch for an actual movie. In actuality, they are products which have been precariously stretched beyond their usual 10-minute running length, pampered and revamped to (barely) qualify as a feature film. Some, like `Wayne's World' and `The Blues Brothers', fare moderately well with a mainstream audience. Others (`It's Pat!', anyone...?) are so idiotic and pointless that it's embarrassing to sit through even the skimpy 80 minutes of their nauseating running time.
`Superstar', the latest SNL related motion picture, actually fares better at 82 minutes than in the suffocating confines of a 10-minute sketch. I have never been a fan of the regular skit, which follows Irish-Catholic school girl Mary Katherine Gallagher (Molly Shannon) through various escapades of quoting ancient TV movies and sniffing her armpits during fits of nervous hysteria. But with a less claustrophobic running time, some surprising attributes of Mary Katherine are allowed to shine through: her unexpected charm, her sensitive personality... And Shannon fits the role remarkably, applying just the right amount of playful exuberance in some scenes and genuine feeling in others.
There are massive problems in `Superstar' from the very beginning, but the appealing cuteness of the cast (along with an assorted handful of fall-down funny moments) helps revive the quality considerably. The painfully weak plot-line finds Mary, teased and taunted by her fellow classmates at St. Monica's Catholic school, contemplating an entry to the upcoming `Fight Venereal Disease' Talent Contest. She is also wooing the incredible hunk Sky Corrigan (Will Ferrell), who holds the key to Mary's lifelong dream: a great kiss. Anticipating this timeless moment, she has long practiced on several inanimate objects (including a tree and a stop sign), much to the shock and dismay of the sisters at St. Monica's.
For every joke or physical gag that works in `Superstar', there are three that don't. There is also an emphasis on perverted sexual humor, including one scene where Mary has her breasts engaged in a conversation. Hidden in all the idiocy, there are isolated moments that are just wonderful. Like Mary's bouts with the stuck-up blond cheerleader Evian (Elaine Hendrix), whom she describes as the `prettiest, most successful, most bulimic girl in school'. After the two rivals attack each other with the kung-fu tactics of Jackie Chan, Mary tells Evian to go `drink a bottle of herself'. There is also an enjoyable send-up of `Armageddon', and funny sequences involving Mary's hideously ugly pooch, which I wanted to confront with a large comb.
The entire cast is bright and funny. Will Ferrell, one of the most talented additions to the current `SNL' cast, is delightfully self-satisfied as the stereotypical jock Sky Corrigan. It's unfortunate that Sky's character is left relatively unexplored, but whatever ground Ferrell loses with that drawback, he makes up for with a funny recurring appearance as Mary's subconscious interpretation of God (who advises the Catholic girl to `get jiggy with it'). Glynis Johns is Mary's wheelchair-bound gramma, Harland Williams is unusually sweet as a mysterious and speechless drifter, and `Kids in the Hall' veteran Mark McKinney supplies several gratifying moments as the bewildered Father Ritley. McKinney can take even the most lifeless scene, such as when Ritley chews on a blackened piece of toast, and revitalize it with humor.
On the subject of `Kids in the Hall', it's also the original comic origins of director Bruce McCulloch, who previously tried his luck behind the camera this year with `Dog Park'. There's something absent from McCulloch's direction, but it suits the subject matter nicely. Undeniably, the real star here is Shannon, who originally created the character of Mary Katherine Gallagher and deserves the credit where credit is due.
Mary is certainly a clumsy girl (crashing through a confessional door in one particular scene), and in some ways, the film embodies her clumsiness. There's no reason why anyone would want to endure `Superstar', unless they were a dedicated fan of `Saturday Night Live' or Molly Shannon. But there are a few redeeming qualities - including a contagious charm - that helps the film rise above a few general standards normally associated with the `SNL' breed of movie-making. I laughed during `Superstar', and if it catches you in the right frame of mind, you might laugh too.
(C) 1999, Jamey Hughton
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