Please Stand By
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Please Stand By'' is a 2017 American
comedy-drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc. ...
directed by
Ben Lewin Ben Lewin (born 1946) is an Australian Film director, film and television director. Early life and education Ben Lewin was born in Poland. As a child, he emigrated with his family to Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. At the age of six, he con ...
and based on the 2008 short play of the same name by
Michael Golamco Michael Golamco is an American playwright and screenwriter for film and television. He is of Filipino and Chinese American descent. Plays ''Achievers'' ''Achievers'' (2001) was Golamco's first full-length play, and was read publicly in New York ...
, who also wrote the screenplay. The film stars
Dakota Fanning Hannah Dakota Fanning (born February 23, 1994) is an American actress. Fanning is known for her roles in blockbuster films and independent features, both as a child actor and as an adult. Her accolades include nominations for a Golden Globe A ...
,
Toni Collette Toni Collette (born Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television, blockbusters and independent films, her accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, wit ...
, Alice Eve, River Alexander and
Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His acting roles include Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–2023) as adult ...
, and was distributed by Magnolia Pictures. An autistic young woman, determined to participate in a script-writing contest, goes on a journey to deliver her script in person before the deadline. After playing at various film festivals, the film was simultaneously released theatrically and on-demand on January 26, 2018.


Plot

Wendy—an
autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...
young woman who has a fixation on ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
''—lives a routine life in a
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
group home A group home, congregate living facility, care home (the latter especially in British English and Australian English), adult family home, etc., is a structured and supervised residence model that provides assisted living as well as medical car ...
where she is monitored by the house manager, Scottie. She spends her time writing a 427-page ''Star Trek'' script to enter in
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
' screenwriting contest for the $100,000 prize. Wendy is visited by her sister Audrey, who shows her pictures of her infant daughter, Ruby, and reveals that she is selling their childhood home. Wendy asks her to take her home, arguing that she will be able to buy back the house and help care for Ruby once she wins the screenwriting contest. Audrey refuses, informing Wendy she is not capable of caring for a baby. Wendy has a meltdown and she leaves the group home weeping. After Wendy misses the mail-in date to send her script to Paramount Pictures, she decides to deliver the script herself. She leaves the group home early the next morning and is followed by the group home's small dog, Pete. They board a bus to
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, but are left by the side of the road as Pete urinates on the bus. Wendy then wanders into a shanty town, where she is robbed of most of her money. She then wanders to a nearby shop and is nearly swindled out of the last of her money by an employee. Luckily, elderly woman Rose intervenes to stop them from exploiting Wendy. She sympathizes with her as her grandson is also autistic, and lets Wendy accompany her on the senior citizens' bus. However, the driver falls asleep at the wheel, crashing the bus. Following the bus crash, Wendy wakes up in a hospital in
Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...
. Still determined to deliver her script as planned, she leaves Pete at the hospital and escapes. During her escape, Wendy loses part of her script by chance. She gathers used paper and begins rewriting it. Simultaneously, Audrey and Scottie have realized Wendy is missing. They begin to search for her and file a missing persons report. After correctly deducing that Wendy left for LA to personally deliver her script, Scottie and her son Sam leave on the road. The Bakersfield hospital notifies Scottie and Audrey of Wendy's whereabouts; police continue the search from there. Scottie and Sam find the missing script pages while scouring the hospital. Wendy then attempts to buy a bus ticket to LA, but is unable to as she has no money. She ultimately stows away on the next bus there, inside the baggage compartment. Upon her arrival to LA, Wendy wanders around until two police officers recognize her from the missing persons report. Fortunately, Officer Frank gains Wendy's trust by speaking to her in
Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon language, Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a humanoid species of aliens in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star T ...
. They bring her to the police station, where she is reunited with Audrey and Scottie. They drive Wendy to Paramount Pictures so she can deliver her script as planned. Despite being stonewalled by a bad-mannered mailroom worker, Wendy is able to sneak past security and submit the script to the turn-in box. Satisfied that she has completed her mission, Wendy informs her sister she did this to prove that she was more capable than Audrey thought. Wendy returns to the group home where she later receives a letter from Paramount Pictures informing her that her script was not chosen, but encouraging her to continue writing. Despite the rejection, she is satisfied with everything she has accomplished. Wendy visits Audrey at their childhood home and holds her niece in her arms for the first time, while her sister embraces her.


Cast


Release

It had its world premiere at the
Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers' creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the c ...
on October 27, 2017. It was theatrically released on January 26, 2018 and on VOD by Magnolia Home Entertainment on May 1, 2018.


Reception


Box office

''Please Stand By'' grossed $9,868 in the United States and Canada, and $396,864 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $406,732. Sales of its DVD/Blu-ray releases have grossed an estimated $145,291.


Critical response

On
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 58% based on 38 reviews, and an average rating of 5.86/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Please Stand By'' hits a number of familiar
coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...
beats, but adds just enough of a ''Trek''-fueled twist to keep things interesting." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Please Stand By 2017 films 2017 comedy-drama films 2017 independent films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films 2010s coming-of-age comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American films based on plays Films about autism Films about runaways Films about sisters Films directed by Ben Lewin Films scored by Heitor Pereira Films set in San Francisco Films set in Los Angeles Star Trek fandom Works about Star Trek English-language comedy-drama films English-language independent films