Superstar

No one smells sweat quite like SNL comedian Molly Shannon -- that tension-fraught moment when she, as her neurotic parochial-school alter ego Mary Katherine Gallagher, burrows her fingers deep into her armpits and then whips them out for a calming sniff. But even with the help of a dead-on imitation of Sybil and some intimate moments involving trees and stop signs, Shannon's twisted approach to aromatherapy can't carry what amounts to another skit-to-screen humdinger, this one directed by Kids In the Hall alumnus Bruce McCulloch. The film -- which finds our horny heroine entering a talent show and fantasizing about a Hollywood-style kiss -- strains hard to sustain its feature length, tacking on a clumsy back story and doling out a dual role to fellow SNL trouper Will Farrell (he plays both the class hunk and a groovy God). Sure, Mary Katherine may flash her panties (a lot) and kibitz with her breasts, but what's truly freaky here is how these desperate spinoffs keep getting made. At the Harbour Mall, Showcase, Starcase, and Woonsocket cinemas.
-- Alicia Potter