Review of Me Before You (2016) by Matt C — 27 Jun 2016

I had never heard of Me Before You until a trailer dropped and I didn't know that it was adapted from a novel (by the author herself). But after The Fault in Our Stars hit theaters and was way better than it had any right to be, another romantic drama sniffles its way into theaters two years later on the same weekend, and I guess they can't call be winners.

It isn't a disaster thanks to Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin's performances, but this is still an emotionally manipulative, long, and trite with cookie-cutter characters and overdone relationships.

Lou Clark (Clarke) is a cute twenty-something in need of a job, leading to her employment as a caretaker for Will (Claflin), who was rendered quadriplegic a few years back when he was hit by a motorcycle--he wasn't even on the motorcycle.

The two's bond inevitably goes from petty to inevitably romantic as his disability threatens their relationship. As mentioned before, Me Before You isn't as awful as it could have been because of its performances.

Emilia Clarke is pretty good when her material isn't forcing her to be annoyingly cutesy, and she does what she can with the dramatic scenes. She also has good chemistry with Sam Claflin, who's the best part of this movie.

He has good timing and it's nice that he doesn't just try to just coast through on his good looks, selling the character's jaded worldview and sarcasm. However, the script still makes his character's behavior too on-the-nose at times.

The script and the direction are where the issues come into play. The movie's characters are so cut-and-paste, with Lou having a boyfriend (Matthew Lewis, A.K.A Nevill Longbottom) with whom she has nothing in common and should just break up with already.

What happens between these two is predictable. As for Will, none of the other characters even entertain the thought that he may be standoffish because he's been unable to move below the neck for years; he's just painted as snobbish at first instead.

The movie's structure is also too loose, just drifting from moment to moment and dragging as a result. The interactions between characters feels like a writer behind a computer going through the motions, and some moments forced me to stifle my laughter.

(There's a moment where the two get into a fight on a beach at night and Lou storms away, leaving Will stuck on the shore by himself. What a great caretaker.) A fair amount of people have been saying that this movie is insensitive to its subject matter, which I don't entirely agree with but can see how it can be construed that way.

This is a manipulative movie not just because the male lead is disabled, but because of what they milk out of it. Discussions about assisted suicide and wanting to end it all aren't handled well enough to make anything feel earned, making it feel exploitative as a result.

Even some of the two characters' actions feel oddly selfish in a way as the story progresses. But the cardinal sin of this movie is that once I knew what was going to happen in the end--which is evident from the beginning--I just wanted it to happen already.

If you're thirteen years old, then Me Before You is probably right up your ally. But if you're any older, the amount of montages, music video direction, and the two--count them: two--appearances by Ed Sheeran on the soundtrack will make you roll your eyes.

And if you're like me, you'll see it as a teen-centered version of Amour. But ultimately, you already know if you'd like this, making this a kind of movie that makes reviewing it a bit unnecessary in and of itself.

4.2/10, bad, two thumbs down, below average, etc.