Mary Katherine is a self-loathing loser who longs, almost unconsciously, to be a panty-flashing, tongue-waggling slut. She's a hilarious study in the discombobulating nature of shame. On ''SNL,'' each Mary Katherine sketch is like a musical number, a four-minute portrait of depression, rage, and triumphant, set-crashing release.
To call Superstar a TV sketch padded out to feature length would be giving the movie too much credit; it barely boasts enough funny material to fill four minutes. By turning Mary into a halfway presentable heroine, the film dissipates her energy -- the depraved lust and weirdly stilted, ballet-class stride that Shannon flaunts so brilliantly. The only time we get Mary in an unfiltered dose is when she tongue-kisses a tree and gets... well, aroused.
Still, having sat through my share of wretched ''SNL'' spin-off movies (''It's Pat,'' etc.), I think I've figured out why they're all so bad. They keep taking these profoundly grotesque characters and making them friendly and domesticated, instead of wilder and more warped.
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