Film Recommendation: "Please Stand by, Boldly Go," with Dakota Fanning

Film Recommendation: “Please Stand By, Boldly Go” with Dakota Fanning

I just saw the 2018 film “Please Stand By, Boldly Go,” staring Dakota Fanning as Wendy. I will soon return it to the Sebastopol Library, after I watch the special features.

Though it is in the comedy section, it belongs in drama, in my opinion. According to “Time” magazine “Dakota Fanning makes the trek of a lifetime.” It is from the Academy Award nominated producer of UP IN THE AIR and the executive producer of JUNO.

“An all-together wonderful dramedy with rich, delightful characters, and genuinely heartwarming and funny,” according to Cinemablend.” Observer writes “Reassuringly life-affirming form start to finish.” I would add that parts of it are also sad.

Fanning plays an extremely smart, complex, loveable, sometimes lost, and creative 21-year-old with autism. She writes a script for the next Star Trekfilm to compete in a contest and must get it to Hollywood from her home in San Francisco. Even if you are not a Treker, as I am, I think you might like it.

The film is educational, informative, emotional, funny, and may bring tears to your eyes, as it did for me. It shatters some of the mis-conceptions about autism, as well as other ways of simply being different. I must admit that one of the reasons I loved it so much is her adorable small dog, who is also quite wise. The film is about finding out who you are, where you belong, and family.

It’s a film about real love—the love of her sister and of a care-taker, and those who help her find her way home, including the policeman who speaks with her in the Klingon languge. Both kind and mean people appear. Especially at our time in history, it is a breath of fresh air.

If you see the film, I would welcome your comments on it.

“Live long and prosper.”