As a child, Mary Katherine Gallagher rescues a boy with a distinctive birthmark at the public pool. An orphan, she lives with her grandmother, and becomes obsessed with achieving "superstardom" and having her first kiss. At St. Monica's
Catholic high school, Mary dreams of kissing Sky Corrigan, the most popular boy in school, but her awkwardness brands her a social outcast. Caught kissing a tree, she is placed in
special education, where she befriends Helen Lewengrub, and new "bad boy" student Eric Slater takes an interest in her. A school
talent show is announced with the chance to win a trip to
Hollywood and be a
movie extra. Mary's grandmother forbids her from participating, but Helen urges her to audition anyway, as does a vision of
Jesus. When she tries to sign up, Mary finds herself in an altercation with head cheerleader Evian Graham, Sky's girlfriend. Mary's grandmother reveals the true reason she will not let Mary perform – Mary's parents were stomped to death during an
Irish dance competition. Having witnessed the fight with Mary, Sky breaks up with Evian, who swears revenge on Mary. Auditioning for the talent show, Mary performs an impassioned rendition of "
Sometimes When We Touch". Evian dumps a bucket of paint on her, inspired by
Carrie; humiliated, Mary flees the school with Slater. Slater brings Mary to the pool, revealing that he was the boy she saved years ago, and they bond during an impromptu swim. Returning home, she finds her grandmother has been informed that Mary earned a place in the talent show. Finally allowing her to perform, Mary's grandmother coaches her and a chorus line of her special education classmates. As the talent show begins, Evian apologizes to Mary, revealing she and Sky will be dancing together. Mary resolves to perform not to impress Sky, but for herself. In a last-minute
confession, Mary relinquishes her dream of becoming a star, instead asking to survive the performance for her grandmother's sake. Mary and her friends perform to "
Out Here on My Own" as Slater, summoned by another vision of Jesus, arrives just in time to watch. The record player inadvertently speeds up, and Mary falls – echoing her parents' fatal performance – but, encouraged by Jesus, she successfully leads her friends through their performance. Met with a standing ovation, Mary wins the talent show. Sky kisses her, but she rejects him, and kisses Slater. The film ends as Mary, now dating Slater, kisses the tree goodbye. ==Cast==