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Parents' Guide to

Superstar

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Even SNL fans will find this movie too long.

Movie PG-13 1999 81 minutes
Superstar Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 3 parent reviews

MarieB 2
MarieB 2 Adult
September 20, 2015
age 15+

It's okay....

I was a bit uncomfortable sitting with my kids while a blonde girl said "ti**ies" at least twice during the movie. Also Will Ferrell had a couple of obviously over the top open mouth kisses with this same girl during the film. Mary Katherine was french kissing a tree twice as well. I wish these things would have been listed in the above chart description.
dvdgirl
dvdgirl Adult
March 16, 2020
age 10+

It was good.

Cute and funny.
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Mary Katherine (Molly Shannon) has one dream—she wants to be passionately kissed. While she waits, she practices on whatever is available, including a tree and a stop sign. Ultimately, she becomes a little more specific in her dream. She wants to be kissed by high school dream date Sky (Will Ferrell). And she decides that since he is going steady with pretty cheerleader Evian (Elaine Hendrix) the only way to get his attention is to become a superstar. And she thinks she can do that by winning the Catholic Teen Magazine VD Awareness Talent Contest. Other attempts at humor include a boy with obsessive-compulsive disorder, a television falling on a dog, an Irish step-dancing tragedy, and repeated falling down and showing of the world's whitest cotton underpants.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (3 ):

Even fans of the Mary Katherine Gallagher skits on Saturday Night Live will find this movie overlong at 82 minutes. It is one thing for a 30-something woman to play the part of a high school girl in a skit, but another to watch her try to act the part of a high school girl in a movie, even one as plotless as this one.

Younger teens will get a kick out of the naughty words and slapstick humor and may even relate to Mary Katherine's struggle to become someone who is admired while staying true to herself. Any older folks who wander in by mistake may enjoy some references to old movies, especially Made-for-TV classics like The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the careless cruelty and need to conform of many high school students, and Mary Katherine's growing understanding that "you have to be your own rainbow" and that what matters is what she thinks about herself, not what Sky thinks about her.

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