Please Stand By

Please stand by
Theatrical release poster; the hand gesture is a Vulcan salute
Directed by Ben Lewin
Produced by
  • Lara Alameddine
  • Daniel Dubiecki
Screenplay by Michael Golamco
Starring
Music by Heitor Pereira
Cinematography Geoffrey Simpson
Distributed by Magnolia Pictures
Release date
  • October 27, 2017 (2017-10-27) (Austin)
  • January 26, 2018 (2018-01-26) (United States)
Running time
 93 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $10,778[1]

Please Stand By is a 2017 American comedy-drama film directed by Ben Lewin and written by Michael Golamco. The film stars Dakota Fanning, Toni Collette, Alice Eve, River Alexander, and Patton Oswalt, and was distributed by Magnolia Pictures. After playing at various film festivals, the film was simultaneously released theatrically and on-demand on January 26, 2018.

Plot

Wendy (Dakota Fanning)—a brilliant and autistic young woman with a fixation on Star Trek—lives a routine life in an Oakland, California group home where she is monitored by her primary caregiver, Scottie (Toni Collette). She spends her time writing a 450-page Star Trek script to enter in Paramount Pictures' screenwriting contest in hopes of winning the $100,000 prize.

Wendy is visited by her sister Audrey (Alice Eve), who shows Wendy pictures of her infant daughter, Ruby, and reveals that she is selling their childhood home. Wendy asks Audrey to take her home, arguing that she will be able to buy back the house and help Audrey care for Ruby once she wins the screenwriting contest. Audrey refuses, telling Wendy she isn't capable of caring for a baby. Wendy has a meltdown and Audrey leaves in tears.

After Wendy misses the mail-in date to send her script to Paramount, 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. Wendy and Pete board a bus to Los Angeles, but are kicked off and left by the side of the road after Pete urinates in the bus. Wendy then wanders into a shanty town, where she is mugged 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. An elderly woman named Rose (Marla Gibbs) intervenes to stop the employee from exploiting Wendy. Rose sympathizes with Wendy as her grandson is also autistic, and lets Wendy accompany her on the senior citizens' bus. The bus driver subsequently falls asleep at the wheel, crashing the bus.

Following the bus crash, Wendy wakes up in a hospital in Bakersfield. Still determined to turn in her script, Wendy leaves Pete at the hospital, attacks a nurse, and escapes. During her escape, Wendy loses part of her script. She gathers used paper and begins rewriting the script.

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 Los Angeles to personally deliver her script, Scottie and her son Sam (River Alexander) set out on the road. The Bakersfield hospital notifies Scottie and Audrey of Wendy’s whereabouts; police continue the search from there. Sam and Scottie find the missing script pages while scouring the hospital.

Wendy then attempts to buy a bus ticket to Los Angeles, but is unable as she has no money. She ultimately stows away on the next bus to Los Angeles, hiding herself inside a baggage compartment. Upon her arrival in Los Angeles, Wendy wanders around until two police officers recognize her from the missing person’s report. Officer Frank (Patton Oswalt) gains Wendy’s trust by speaking to her in Klingon. The officers take Wendy to the police station, where she is reunited with Audrey and Scottie. They bring Wendy to Paramount Pictures so she can deliver her script.

Despite being stonewalled by a rude 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 tells her sister she did it to prove that she was more capable than Audrey thought. Wendy returns back to the group home where she later receives a letter from Paramount stating her script was not chosen. Despite the rejection, she is satisfied with everything she has accomplished. Wendy visits Audrey and holds her niece for the first time.

Cast

Reception

As of July 2018, Please Stand By received a 63% approval rating on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes based on a collection of 31 reviews.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Please Stand By (2018)". The Numbers. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
  2. ↑ "Please Stand By (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
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