X
- 2018
- PG-13
- Magnolia Pictures
- 1 h 33 m
- 2018
- PG-13
- Magnolia Pictures
- 1 h 33 m
Summary A young autistic woman (Dakota Fanning) runs away from her caregiver in order to boldly go and deliver her 500-page Star Trek script to a writing competition in Hollywood.
Directed By: Ben Lewin
Written By: Michael Golamco
- 2018
- PG-13
- Magnolia Pictures
- 1 h 33 m
- 2018
- PG-13
- Magnolia Pictures
- 1 h 33 m
Please Stand By
49
6.7
Where to Watch
Summary A young autistic woman (Dakota Fanning) runs away from her caregiver in order to boldly go and deliver her 500-page Star Trek script to a writing competition in Hollywood.
Directed By: Ben Lewin
Written By: Michael Golamco
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
49
33% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
58% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
8% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
49
33% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
58% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
8% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
It’s a long haul, but Please Stand By, meticulously directed by Ben Lewin (The Sessions), chronicles the pitfalls, terrors and triumphs of the trip with heart-wrenching realism.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 28 User Ratings
6.7
54% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
43% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
4% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 28 User Ratings
6.7
54% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
43% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
4% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Bravura performance by Dakota Fanning here, with excellent support from Toni Collette, Alice Eve, and Patton Oswalt (in a small but important role). Fanning portrays Wendy, a young woman with autism who is determined to get to Los Angeles to submit her Star Trek based script for a Paramount Pictures contest. It may break your heart more than once, but I felt the trek was well worth it in the end. Sharp writing from Michael Golamco based on his own play.This film really surprised me in a most positive way.
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Simple, but not obvious or made to please. Honest, but not pandering or pulling strings. I saw reviews basically demanding a dramatic roll-coaster performance of Fanning. Maybe something like a parody of the illness. No thank you. Like the illness itself, there’s no attempt to make the main character linear or telegraphed. It plays like a day in the life with the honesty of capturing common-folk lives rather heroic happenings. And so of we go in a truly mundane, believable, and more importantly, entertaining adventure in an autistic woman’s life. It is an indie film and wears the badge proudly.
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Please Stand By is thoughtful in how it dramatizes the consequences of autism. The movie is a little stiff, though.
The film itself is often flat, akin to a very well-directed after-school special crafted exclusively to dramatize what it might be like to either live on the high-functioning end of the spectrum or care for someone who’s there.
It’s hard to be persuasive, though, when your protagonist comes across as a collection of quirky tics rather than a credible human being.
Please Stand By has its surface charms...but if you look under the hood, the film just doesn't work.
A picture whose picaresque premise holds more promise that its star or director deliver.
Please Stand By is a beautiful film. Of course it's not exactly faithful to the sickness, because it would be hard to write a story around it. But you get a good view of some symptoms and difficulties of autism. The acting is quite good and certainly convincing enough. The Star Trek side is a bridge for something else, like for many Star Trek fans. And in that sens the film is very respectful toward Trek, autism and those who lives with them. I had a nice time watching the movie and I give it a 72%.
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Production Company
Allegiance Theater,
2929 Productions,
Embankment Films
Release Date Jan 26, 2018
Duration 1 h 33 m
Rating PG-13
Tagline Boldly go.
