Please Stand By

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.

This movie is so subtle that it draws you in, right from the start. It gets a little slow at some points and can even be a little predictable. But it pays off with some good humor and good drama. Dakota fanning did such a wonderful job, I think autistic rep is so so important and I hope the autistic community approves of this portrayal because there's nothing worse than bad rep.

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.

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.

Not sure which movie the two who slated this movie watched but I thought Dakota was as great. I've lived with an autistic person and it's so difficult to get it right because they are all different. This is a good feel movie and was directed perfectly.