Superstar (1999)

A nerdy Catholic schoolgirl, Mary Katherine Gallagher, dreams of superstardom.

Director:

Bruce McCulloch

Writers:

Molly Shannon (character), Steve Koren (as Steven Wayne Koren)

Stars:

Molly Shannon, Will Ferrell, Elaine Hendrix

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Molly Shannon	...	Mary Katherine Gallagher
Will Ferrell	...	Sky Corrigan / Jesus
Elaine Hendrix	...	Evian
Harland Williams	...	Slater
Mark McKinney	...	Father Ritley
Glynis Johns	...	Grandma
Jason Blicker	...	Howard
Gerry Bamman	...	Father John
Emmy Laybourne	...	Helen
Jennifer Irwin	...	Maria
Rob Stefaniuk	...	Thomas
Natalie Radford	...	Autum
Karyn Dwyer	...	Summer
Tom Green	...	Dylan
Chuck Campbell	...	Owen

Storyline

Orphan Mary Katherine Gallagher, an ugly duckling at St. Monica High School, has a dream: to be kissed soulfully. She decides she can realize this dream if she becomes a superstar, so her prayers, her fantasies, and her conversations with her only friend focus on achieving super-stardom. Her big chance is a school talent contest; her main competition is Evian, the school beauty, who is dancing with Sky, the object of Mary Katherine's kiss dream. Mary Katherine gets some talent-show help from her fellow special education students, her grandma, and Jesus, and inspiration from secrets in her past. Watching are Sky, Evian, and a silent classmate.

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Plot Keywords:

released in 1999 on usa | school | orphan | special education | dancing | 

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Taglines:

Dare to dream.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sex-related humor and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 October 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Superestrella

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$34,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,912,743, 10 October 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$30,628,981, 6 February 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Broadway Pictures, SNL Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The name of the town in which they live, Besame Heights, means "Kiss me" in Spanish.

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Goofs

In the opening sequence, when Mary saves Eric from drowning, the amount of water on the skirt of the pool varies greatly from shot to shot

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Quotes

Grandma Gallagher: It's time I told you how your parents died.
Mary Katherine Gallagher: What does that have to do with a talent contest?
Grandma Gallagher: Everything.
Mary Katherine Gallagher: I thought you said that mom and dad were savagely ripped apart and eaten by a school of hammerhead sharks.
Grandma Gallagher: I just told you that to make you feel better.

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Connections

References The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976)

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Soundtracks

The Devil Went Down to Georgia
Written by Charlie Daniels, Tom Crain, Taz Di Gregorio (as Taz DiGregorio), Fred Edwards, Charlie Hayward & Jim Marshall

User Reviews

Very enjoyable

I completely enjoyed Superstar. Its one of those movies that are kind of cute, but still had enough off color humor to keep your attention. It is not raunchy at all. The off color humor comes from many things that kids in the age group really go through.

I grew up attending Catholic High School. So I can related to many things in this movie. Just the uniforms alone are funny. And the characters of the Priests and Nuns are very funny, and reminds me of many of the teachers I had back in the day.

Yes both Molly and Will were a little too old for their characters. I wonder what the movie would have been like if they made it with child actors. It certainly would have been a whole different thing. But I like how they made it with the older actors. It's Molly Shannon's character and really no one but Molly can play her.