Dakota Fanning continues to prove herself to be a solid actress, and that is clearly evident in Please Stand By. I felt she did an admirable job of portraying some of the things that can come with autism. There were only a couple of scenes where I felt she might have let the mannerisms drop a little too much, but otherwise she was spot on. However, I do struggle at times with movies like this, because I wonder how much research they put into the realities of being on the spectrum. It can often seem they steer too dramatically into the extremes of the disorder, and also that they infantilize those who are dealing with it. But I'm no expert, so I suppose if those who know more than me have not raised an uproar about this film, then it's probably fine. I did appreciate that they made the main character extremely relatable and likable, so we were able to quickly get on her side. You can understand where she's coming from and you want to see her succeed.
I had fun with the journey that she goes on throughout the movie, and I appreciated the relative simplicity of her goal. I've never been a huge fan of Star Trek, but I connected with all the references, and liked how the story she had written was used as a parallel to her own life experiences. There are some tough-to-watch moments in the movie, and you certainly lose faith in humanity a couple of times because of the ridiculous behavior of certain individuals. Aside from those scenes, though, Please Stand By is a heartwarming story. The end is a strange mix of disappointing and uplifting, and I thought that played well, even if it seemed her reaction to how things were resolved was a bit out-of-character. There were a few other minor things that bugged me, because I detected story inconsistencies that would make no sense for someone who lived such a regimented life, but I had to let those things go because they were nitpicks at best. Despite its flaws, Please Stand By was a solid movie and one that sheds a positive light on people with autism, which is always a good thing.
