Please Stand By

Subtle, true to life and quite touching. "Please Standby" is an uplifting, gentle portrait of an autistic girl, who desperatedly wants to enter a Star Trek script competition. Will she be able to make her dream wish come true and write her Star Trek script and enter the competition?

This movie feels like letting young children ride their bikes for the very first time, slowly disappearing around the corner, where you cant see them anymore. You want to shelter them from any harm, but you have to let go sometimes in order for them to learn to stand on their own two feet.

Dakota Fanning does a good job of portraying a mildly autistic girl, who is trying to break free from her sheltered, yet constrained life. Entering the Star Trek competition is one way of spreading her wings. This story feels like watching puppies fall on their face and climbing up again. Very endearing and with a great uplifting spirit!

I like Please Stand By a lot - especially the performance by Dakota Fanning as our autistic heroine is excellent. The story is here and there maybe a little too predictable and sugar candy but there is also a good shot of bitter-sweet pain. All in all a fine little flick that shows a little fairy tale embedded in every day life. My rate = 6 + 1 for Dakota's superb game.

"Like Spock, for example. He's half-human, half-alien. He has trouble dealing with his emotions. Where did it say that? That's just how he is."

Although "Stand by me" is a fairly predictable film and unrestrainedly endeavors to strike a sensitive nerve, I'm all for such a type of film. The number of films about individuals with a disability, who try to survive in our society where perfection is the standard nowadays, and who succeed in making great achievements, is endless. "I am Sam", "Forrest Gump", "Rain Man", "The theory of everything", "Still Alice", "X + Y" and "Who's driving doug", to name but a few. These are all films where one feels sorry for the main character first. And after a while you realize that these persons surpass all expectations and amaze themselves about their own abilities. Just like Wendy (Dakota Fanning), who suffers from a severe form of autism so that communicating with her environment is a huge obstacle and her daily life is determined by a strict schedule. Handing in a self-written script for a "Star Trek" episode, however, ensures that this well-ordered and well-defined life is shaken up.

All due respect to Dakota Fanning. The way she played this complex character deserves all praise. She distanced herself from all the possibilities available to portray Wendy with all possible tics and ridiculous rituals. Also the phenomenon of autism was not unnecessarily enlarged by her. Apart from the compulsive writing down of all kinds of facts in her notebook and the pattern of colorful sweaters she's wearing on specific days, she seems to function reasonably normal. Not as Freddie Higmore who plays a similar character in "The Good Doctor" with a forced intonation making him sound like a voice computer with incorrectly installed software from Lernout & Hauspie. And yes, I know the spectrum of autism is fairly broad. But I appreciated the modesty with which Dakota Fanning played the person Wendy.

Also Toni "Miss you already" Collette played a not so bad part as Scottie who leads the home where Wendy lives. A patient and passionate person who guides each individual in this center and tries to point these individuals the right way towards a bearable personal life. It wasn't immediately clear to me whether Scottie was her real name or a kind of joke because of Wendy's passion for the television series "Star Trek". Frankly, I felt that all other characters fulfilled their job in an orderly manner. The fact they came across as plain add-ons is entirely due to the beautiful acting of Dakota Fanning of course. The entire film shows how Wendy's trust grows and she shifts her own boundaries (even if it's just crossing a specific street).

"Please stand by" is not primarily about how autists handle themselves and how confusing their view on life is. The subject isn't really thoroughly explored or explained in this area. I can't even remember the word autism being pronounced once. Only a brief remark by a devout, old female about her grandson who displays an identical behavior. It's actually a kind of adventurous quest with the ultimate goal of delivering the filmscript. And so Wendy needs to follow a path, completely normal for average people, where she meets a lot of people with bad intentions. And each time she's saved by caring persons. Almost something like Frodo and that damn ring he had to throw in Mount Doom. Also a risky quest full of obstacles and devious creatures. But then without the autism phenomenon.

Finally, a big applaus for the dog Pete who accompanies Wendy the whole way. They looked like Dorothy and Toto heading for the Wizard of Oz. Fortunately, the duo wasn't as annoying as Reese Witherspoon and her little pooch in a pink outfit in "Legally Blonde". And the most surprising moment was when a policeman talked to Wendy in a very remarkable way. But you have to discover that yourself when you watch this engaging and charming film.

P.S. If the script "The many and the few" really exists, I hope it'll become a real film. The fragments of text that were read, sounded intriguing!

More reviews here : movie-freak.be

I was very impressed with this film. The portrayals are fairly accurate and positive. I think that's important.

This film is about an autistic girl named Wendy, played by Dakota Fanning. Wendy is a humongous Star Trek fan who runs away from her caregiver and heads to Paramount Pictures to enter her script in a Star Trek writing contest.

The first thing that I must talk about is the fact that the main character is a female autistic girl. I am on the autism spectrum myself. Specifically, I have high-functioning Asperger's syndrome. It's a common misconception that autism occurs mainly in boys, yet this film has a female lead who's on the spectrum and I love that. Autism has such a wide spectrum and effects 1 in 100 people. There are a lot of us out there and, aside from this movie, I can only think of a few other fictional characters on the spectrum and that upsets me. It's rare to see autistic people represented, until recently and they are interesting people. The traits shown in this film are accurate. For example, there's a scene when Wendy sings to herself while covering her ears to block out the loud noises. I can relate to that since I do that too. It's good that the traits shown are correct.

Wendy is a character who you can't help but want to root for. I relate to her passion for writing, as I am also a writer. I wanted her to succeed so badly. Also, all of the Star Trek references actually have a purpose. At first, it just seems as if her love of Star Trek is just her special interest, as many autistic people develop special interests. But the movie actually uses the Star Trek references in a much more meaningful way. There's a scene where one of the characters explains to his mom that Spock has trouble with his emotions. He uses this as an example of why Wendy might be obsessed with the show. To be honest, I thought that metaphor was incredibly creative.

However, I'll be honest, the older sister, Audrey, really bothered me. I understand Wendy is lower functioning. They show early on how Wendy would freak out and start hitting herself when she was overwhelmed. But, the only reason that Wendy runs away is because her sister doesn't trust Wendy being away from her caregiver, therefore Audrey won't drive Wendy to the post office to drop off the script. I know caretakers will connect with Audrey as it can be difficult to care for people with challenges. I just hope people take away from this movie an understanding that people with challenges can still accomplish great things. Autistic people are extremely creative and deserve more credit and opportunities.

I give this film 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 11 to 18.

Reviewed by Calista B., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more reviews by youth visit kidsfirst dot org.

Dakota Fanning continues to prove herself to be a solid actress, and that is clearly evident in Please Stand By. I felt she did an admirable job of portraying some of the things that can come with autism. There were only a couple of scenes where I felt she might have let the mannerisms drop a little too much, but otherwise she was spot on. However, I do struggle at times with movies like this, because I wonder how much research they put into the realities of being on the spectrum. It can often seem they steer too dramatically into the extremes of the disorder, and also that they infantilize those who are dealing with it. But I'm no expert, so I suppose if those who know more than me have not raised an uproar about this film, then it's probably fine. I did appreciate that they made the main character extremely relatable and likable, so we were able to quickly get on her side. You can understand where she's coming from and you want to see her succeed.

I had fun with the journey that she goes on throughout the movie, and I appreciated the relative simplicity of her goal. I've never been a huge fan of Star Trek, but I connected with all the references, and liked how the story she had written was used as a parallel to her own life experiences. There are some tough-to-watch moments in the movie, and you certainly lose faith in humanity a couple of times because of the ridiculous behavior of certain individuals. Aside from those scenes, though, Please Stand By is a heartwarming story. The end is a strange mix of disappointing and uplifting, and I thought that played well, even if it seemed her reaction to how things were resolved was a bit out-of-character. There were a few other minor things that bugged me, because I detected story inconsistencies that would make no sense for someone who lived such a regimented life, but I had to let those things go because they were nitpicks at best. Despite its flaws, Please Stand By was a solid movie and one that sheds a positive light on people with autism, which is always a good thing.