Review of Me Before You (2016) by Mrmoviebuff — 22 Nov 2016

It's always said that the best love stories are either the ones that are forbidden, or the ones that have a couple who may never stand a chance together. 'Me Before You' is an adaptation of the 2012 novel written by Jojo Moyes, it focuses on a woman in her mid-20s named Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke of 'Game of Thrones'), who has been laid off a cafe that she worked at for six years.

She becomes eager to find a new job fast in order to earn money for her family. She ends up finding work as a caretaker for a paralyzed man named Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), who was left unable to use the rest of his body after an accident of being run over by a motorcycle two years before.

Louisa tries her best to bring some sense of joy into Will, who is cold and cynical since he became paralyzed. She tries a number of different things to lift his spirits, but for a while, nothing seems to work.

It also seems that Louisa is putting her work before her boyfriend, Patrick (Matthew Lewis), who becomes frustrated when she cannot find the time and effort for him, and is spending more time with another man whom she's only known for a few months.

She becomes tired of Patrick's jealousy and he becomes tired of her inattentive behavior. Louisa also learns the harsh truth about Will, she decides to take him abroad on holidays and making him realize that just because he is paralyzed, there is no stopping him.

They end up falling in love. 'Me Before You' is a well-made romantic drama, and Clarke and Claflin do share some terrific chemistry that should hook even the most cold-hearted movie-goer. But, underneath all that drama, and all those emotions lie a very paint-by-numbers and cliched love story that we have seen time and time again.

It reminded me of a French movie called 'The Intouchables' (2012), or "Untouchable" as it is called in some countries. That movie worked because, well, it wasn't necessarily a love story, but we got beneath the characters there.

Here, you just have a typical, happy-go-lucky girl taking care of a devil-may-care, crippled man. I admired the characters for a while, but once I knew where the plot was going, the spark fizzled out.

I'm sure even those who haven't read Jojo Moyes' book, and has seen every romantic drama ever, will know how the movie will start and end. Good effort for the most part, but utterly predictable and not quite as special.