After seeing the trailer for "Please Stand By", I was immediately intrigued. As a Trekkie, that angle hooked me right away, and the collection of acting talent and interesting story ideas seemed to be a good mix. I was disappointed to see the film come to streaming so quickly after basically no theatrical run. After watching, however, I now better understand that while not being a bad film by any means, "Please Stand By" is just "okay" from beginning to end, doing nothing to really make itself special in the process.
For a basic plot summary, this film tells the story of Wendy (Dakota Fanning), an autistic young woman with a talent for writing and a love of Star Trek. She discovers that Paramount Pictures is holding a Trek script contest, and when she is unable to mail her entry due to her condition, she decides to light out for Los Angeles by herself (and dog Pete, of course). While sister Audrey (Alice Eve) and therapist Scottie (Toni Collette) try to track her down, Wendy experiences life outside her sheltered existence for the first time.
Like I said, this isn't a bad movie in any sense. At its core, it is a good story of an autistic young woman trying to understand her place in the world and figure out what her life is all about. Fanning's portrayal of this is excellent, without which the entire film would have indeed been tough to get through. She carries most of the load here, and does it admirably. You'll be rooting for her and every part of her quest, so at least there is somewhat of a viewer investment present.
The problem, and I can't quite put my finger on it, is that nothing in "Please Stand By" really stands out (again, aside from Fanning's performance). It hits all the beats it should and tries to drum up as much emotion as possible, but it just feels hollow (as if I were feeling for the characters because I knew I should be, not because I actually was). The whole film just lacked that ability to make viewers truly feel like a lot is at stake.
Not helping matters is that, oddly, the Star Trek angle to this film isn't nearly as fleshed out as it needed to be. This was a key part of the story, but I felt like it was used more as a plot device than anything really meaningful. Instead of her Trek fandom being the key to her journey, it only seems to be the catalyst for her journey to LA by herself. It just felt like an odd juxtaposition all the way through.
Overall, I now understand why "Please Stand By" did not get a big theatrical release. It just doesn't offer enough of anything new to the viewing public. A similar movie (and one that did a much better job) is "Rain Main" starring Tom Cruise & Dustin Hoffman. That movie had truly memorable moments regarding how someone deals with a personality disorder. This one, though, just hits the standard beats only to find those hits to be mostly hollow instead of meaningful.
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