Please Stand By
Ben Lewin, USA 2018
Trekkies, fan fiction lovers and spectral beings take notice! There may be legions who love Star Trek, but writing Star Trek episodes is something only professional scriptwriters do – except for true fans like Wendy (Dakota Fanning) too, that is, who hopes to win a $100,000 prize in a contest, which she intends to use to purchase her old family home. But what if the mailing process goes wrong and you find that the only solution is to take a trip to hand-deliver your script? And what if you’re living in a group home because the travails of daily life would otherwise overwhelm you due to your rather striking autism? Luckily caregiver Scottie (Toni Collette) knows how to keep life bearable, and when things seem to be going wrong, she can always calm Wendy with the golden Trekkie guideline: ‘Please stand by’.
Wendy desperately wants to be part of her sister Audrey’s life, and especially that of new-born niece Ruby. She is convinced that if they all return to their mother’s former home, sold off after her death, things will work out and she can leave the group home in Oakland arranged by her sister. But her plan goes somewhat awry and Wendy sees no other option than to hit the road, taking a bus to LA, accompanied by group home pet dog Pete. A nerve-wracking road movie ensues.
Luckily Scottie goes after Wendy, accompanied by her son. Along the way, mishap upon mishap is interspersed with meetings with all sorts of individuals, from senior citizens to Vulcan-speaking cops. Dakota Fanning puts on another of her spot-on performances (like in her last one in Dutch cinemas, in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as Manson gang member) and then there is of course the wonderful Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine) too. Keep an eye out for comic Patton Oswalt, who most will know from TV (The King of Queens), but who also gives every movie he appears in a boost (Magnolia). So beam yourself up, y’all! Let those other galaxies drift on by for once, and head for VERA Zienema.
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