Review of "Standout: The Ben Kjar Story"

I didn't know what to expect when I walked into the theater. I've known Ben since he was junior-high age and coached against him (never had a wrestler beat him). I was always impressed with his intensity on the mat and his behavior off the mat. He always impressed me as someone with class. I could always imagine the kinds of things he had faced during his life, but the realities, in some ways, were worse than I imagined. At the same time, the environment he was raised in was so amazing, which clearly helped combat the bad. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Standout: The Ben Kjar Story" tells the inspiring story of Utah wrestler Ben Kjar, born with Crouzon Syndrome, a rare craniofacial disorder. From birth, doctors warned that his life would be dominated by limitations, bullying and harsh scrutiny. Despite that prognosis, Ben yearned for an ordinary life free from judgment and harassment. However, each experience of adversity, including continual bullying and a series of painful surgeries, galvanized him as an individual. It would have been so easy to take all that negativity and spew back the same kind of darkness in response. Instead, he channeled it into a relentless drive on the wrestling mat, where his differences didn't matter. Determined to succeed, he pushed himself relentlessly, breaking through physical and social (yes, even romantic) barriers that could have so easily been viewed as insurmountable.

So let's talk a bit about the wrestling.

Ben was a three-time state champion in high school. The movie included his mental game, where he signed bout sheets with his name and "3XSC" for "three-time state champion" starting when he was a sophomore in high school. I remember officiating a match and seeing him do that, then asking him what it meant. He did not shy away or behave with any kind of apprehension. He just looked me in the eye and told me. I remember thinking, "Good for you! I wish I could get my wrestlers to set goals like that." He wrestled at UVU from 2006-11 and was the first-ever NCAA Wrestling All-American when he placed fourth at the NCAA championships. In 2023, he became a World Champion in Greco-Roman at the Veterans World Championships in Greece. So, yes, the movie does address his wrestling history, his training regimen, how hard he pushed himself, and how he simply would not accept anything less than meeting his goals.

Yet "Standout" is so much more than a wrestling movie. Wrestling is just one of the colors on the palette of this movie. Its message is far more profound and cannot be denied. "Standout" is a movie about humanity, about what it means to be human, about what it means to face adversity, about facing difficulties, and not letting them beat you. Those are all aspects of Ben.

It doesn't stop there.

"Standout" is a movie about what it means as a human being to observe someone facing adversity, about doing whatever could be done to help someone face difficulties without swooping in and saving him (impossible in a sport like wrestling), and providing whatever kind of support is possible in those battles to prevent the endless pounding from beating him down. Those are all aspects of Ben's family, his friends, his coaches, and his teachers. What a truly amazing group of people.

"Standout" is aboiut the fight to exemplify the best of being human. It is not overstated. It is not exaggerated. It does not make a play for sympathy. It lays it out and says, "Here's what happened. It was hard. Here's what we did. It was hard, too."

There are books that are required reading for this or that. "Standout" should be required viewing, not just for athletes, but for every human being. It illustrates so well what it means to be a genuinely good person, through and through. In this case, in a whole variety of flavors. This movie should be required viewing in order to be human.

P.S.

Bring a box of tissues.