Superstar MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +2 Content: -2

Molly Shannon created the character of Mary Katherine Gallagher, a Catholic schoolgirl, for Saturday Night Live. Now she brings to the big screen that awkward misfit who makes a spectacle of herself trying so hard to be popular. She fantasizes about kissing Sky Corrigan (Will Ferrell), the handsome football hero, as nuns and classmates watch her kiss a tree trunk. This and other weird antics earn Mary Katherine ridicule from classmates. The teenager also dreams about becoming a superstar and has memorized monologues from favorite movies. When the school announces auditions for a talent show to raise money to fight venereal disease, Mary Katherine is determined to become a star. Young teenagers struggling with accepting themselves when no one else does will find SUPERSTAR both funny and touching. Others will be glad it is no more than 75 minutes long.

The Catholic school setting mixed with teenagers raging hormones is fertile ground for sexually suggestive and irreverent humor. In the school cafeteria a boy uses grapefruit to simulate breasts, and a girl grabs a banana to make fun of male anatomy. A weight-conscious teenager asks if communion wafers are fat free, and Mary Katherine disrupts a chapel service with a dramatic monologue during confession. A priest describes symptoms of venereal disease, adding the comment that many students have probably already experienced them. Mary Katherine prays fervently every night that Sky will kiss her and that she will become a superstar. This leads to her imagining Jesus appearing with the face of Sky, telling her to "get jiggy with it." Finally, however, a heartfelt prayer of thanksgiving, requesting Gods guidance in taking care of her grandmother, indicates Mary Katherine is becoming more spiritual and less self-centered. Schoolmates call special ed students "retards." Once, Mary Katherine kicks and hits a cheerleader who has ridiculed her. Three obscenities include two s-words and one f-word said by the grandmother. Along with its sexually suggestive humor, SUPERSTARs ridicule of parochial schools, the Catholic religion and its New Age "Jesus" apparition will offend discerning viewers.

Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor: Paramount Pictures, 5555 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA 90038