Standout: The Ben Kjar Story review (2026)

Standout: The Ben Kjar Story is an immensely feel-good movie that is actually as uplifting and inspiring as its filmmakers intend. It’s the kind of documentary that doesn’t just entertain, but also makes viewers consider how they would handle so much adversity. Better yet, could they be as big a positive force for so many others in the process?

Director/writer Tanner Christensen tells the story of Ben Kjar, who was born with Crouzon Syndrome, a rare craniofacial disorder. Ben, who also served as a producer on Standout, explains his unlikely journey.

It doesn’t take long into Standout before realizing that the old adage “It takes a village to raise a child” directly applies to Ben’s family. It’s actually encouraging hearing from his parents, Scott and Stana, as they recall Ben’s early life and the challenges of having such an undersized baby who would need multiple surgeries early on in his life.

Scott and Stana are an earnest, instantly likable couple who clearly seem proud of their son for overcoming so much. It says a lot about the strength of the overall family unit as so many of Ben’s siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins were interviewed. While Ben needed skull surgeries, Scott and Stana didn’t go out of their way to treat him differently from his three older siblings and eventual three younger siblings.

While doctors understandably advised against more physical activities, Ben’s parents encouraged him to find pursuits that caught his interest. When the inevitable bullies, cruel comments from children and adults would leave Ben shattered, they were his rock and emotional support.

Christensen alternates between just having Ben and respective family members talk about his childhood and re-enacting those moments with a young Ben stand-in in Colton Fielding, a child who was also born with Crouzon Syndrome. In a nice artistic touch, Ben watches these childhood scenes play out like an observer as if recalling the emotions and feels of those specific moments. Standout doesn’t require Ben to act that often, but these segments are some of the film’s stronger scenes.

After giving football a try, Ben settles into pursuing wrestling. What he lacks in skill and size, Ben makes up for it with heart and a dogged determination to be good at something where his success is all on him. Ben’s coaches attest that his wrestling success didn’t come overnight as he was by far not a wrestling prodigy, but his hard work led to him becoming an increasingly more proficient wrestler. With that success, he gained confidence and contrary to his earlier childhood experiences, a genuine popularity at school.

Standout benefits from the time period as Christensen had access to plenty of archive camcorder footage of Ben’s matches — along with other childhood sports and activities. When his uncle/coach mentions Ben crying after losing so convincingly in a match, Christensen can cut to the footage with young Ben wiping away the tears.

Ben faces some setbacks on his collegiate wrestling journey, but it’s not a total loss as he meets his future wife, LaCol Grant. Their love story doesn’t go off without a hitch especially as it relates to a family member, but this allows for a greater triumph later. This becomes a theme in Standout.

Christensen doesn’t gloss over the hardships Ben or his family faces. The bad, the ugly and the terrible are covered in a way that’s not intended to evoke sympathy so much as showing real emotions that real people experience. Ben and his family reference their faith, but they aren’t so religious as to act like they don’t question “why them?” or act as if a prayer or two magically makes everything all better.

For wrestling movie fans, Standout has some connection with the 2024 film Unstoppable, the story of Anthony Robles. Unstoppable told the story of Robles who was a dominant amateur wrestler who did not let being born with one leg stop him from achieving his dreams. Robles actually squared off with Kjar in a major tournament making for a fun alternate perspective for viewers who also saw Unstoppable (available on Amazon Prime).

As Ben’s wrestling career comes to a close there are other major life hurdles to overcome some of which recall early painful traumas where he’s mocked and insulted for his appearance. With a fresh perspective, Ben’s reaction this time is almost inconceivably touching.

Standout is more than an athlete’s tale or a sad sack finding some rays of sunshine in his life. It’s incredibly moving and heartfelt telling the kind of story we all could use a lot more of these days.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Photo Credit: Remember Films

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Rating: 10 out of 10

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