Me Before You is a film which stars Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin and Charles Dance. It comes directed by Thea Sharrock and is based on a novel by Jojo Moyes who also wrote the screenplay for the film. Me Before You is an emotional love story film centred around Lou Clarke, who gets a job as a carer for Will Traynor. Will was once a legend who had everything, but is now paralysed from the shoulders down. It’s a very well written romance film which I think bought quite a few people to tears in the screening I was in, so you know, if you’re easily upset in a movie, this is a film that just might do that to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W55yBpqPaC4
Having not actually read the book that this film is based on and actually having never heard of the book until I saw the film, I cannot say whether or not the film follows the book. But considering that the author of the book also wrote the film, I think things should be in safe hands for book fans. It is actually very well written, dialogue is quick and witty. Some moments of the film will make you laugh, while others are more emotional.
Thea Sharrock did a great job directing this film, especially since it seems to be her first big film she’s made. There was a great balance between the more lighthearted scenes and the more emotional ones and the pacing never really felt slow or drawn out. I never really felt that I wanted to step out of the cinema when watching this one, for fear that I may miss something important that could happen with one of the characters.
There’s some good characterisation here and I suppose because they all came out of a novel, there was a lot to draw from. Both Lou (Emilia Clarke) and Will (Sam Claflin) were very well written and felt almost like real people and that’s actually something that’s rare in films. It’s not often that we get such great characters to watch that have a lot of personality to them. Often times characters have some development, but are fairly two dimensional, that’s not the case with Me Before You, so I’m always very happy to see that.
Actors are all great. Both Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin really put in great performances, they are helped of course by having some great characters to play and enough to do with their roles for us to see a lot of range from them. Poor Sam though only can move his head in this film. but it doesn’t feel like that, he’s such a big personality that at times I didn’t even notice that he was like that at all and that’s a credit to Sam, but also to the director and the writing. When you have characters with a lot of personality and two very good actors to play them, you get a very good film and Me Before You is a really great film. There is also the presence of Charles Dance who plays Will’s father. He’s a great actor in everything he’s in and for fans for Game Of Thrones, you do sort of get a few moments where both Emilia Clarke and Charles Dance are in the same scene, which I don’t think happened in the TV show, so that’s good as well.
I highly recommend going to see this film, especially if you’re a fan of the book and especially if you’re a Emilia Clarke or Sam Claflin fan. Even if you’re not a fan of any of that, this is still a great film, with excellent characters to watch. It’s a very emotional film so be ready for that if you do get emotional watching films, but it’s also got some charming moments and some funny ones as well. I felt that I got to know these two characters during the experience and it’s easy to get attached to them throughout the run time. Me Before You was a great film experience and as one of the few romance films out this year, it’s also one of the better ones, go see it!
