Me Before You Review

Date Released: 2016

Director: Thea Sharrock

Actors/ Characters: Sam Claflin/ Will Traynor,  Emilia Clarke/ Lou Clark, Jenna Coleman/  Katrina "Treena" Clark, Janet McTeer/ Camilla Traynor, Charles Dance/ Stephen Traynor, Matthew Lewis/ Patrick

Summary: A girl in a small town forms an unlikely bond with a recently paralyzed man she's taking care of.

Review

Going into the cinema to watch this I was seriously excited, having read Me Before You before all the hype and loving it I was really happy to discover that Warner Brothers were bringing out a film featuring Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke. And I have to say that Thea Sharrock's film adaptation of this book did not disappoint although I must confess the expected: the book was better than the movie in many respects.

First of all I though the cast of the film was perfect! Emilia and Sam worked brilliantly together in their roles of Lou and Will and you could just tell by their confidence around one another that they get on just as well off set as they do on. Emilia Clarke was a perfect Lou as she just radiates a bubbly, good hearted and clumsy energy that is essential for the character of Lou. The first appearance of Will was performed brilliantly by Sam Claflin, I adored his solemn and serious attitude as Will at the start of the film and just as in the book Will's character development was touching and heartbreaking to watch.  I loved Matthew Lewis' portrayal of Patrick as well particularly during Lou's birthday dinner. His comedic timing was excellent as he looked on Lou's feeding of Will with a nervous discomfort. I think the excellent cast is a credit to Sharrock as it allowed the film to mirror the same tone as the book extremely effectively.

The locations picked for the film were excellently picked, they were exactly how I imagined them in my head as I read the book. The castle was one of my favourite locations as it added so much Britishness to the film and a rural and sleepy feel to the town that was essential to Lou's story.

One of my favourite chapters in the book was the horse racing chapter, I was infuriated and upset by this in the book and I felt it highlighted Will's constant suffering perfectly and showed how he never felt he could live in a normal society any longer. In the film I was a little disappointed with the horse racing scene as I didn't feel as strongly angered and saddened by the events. I did enjoy Lou's confrontation with the waitress in the posh restaurant and Clarke's performance at that part was on of the only times during the scene I felt lived up to the book.

I still adored the romantic scenes in the film just as I did in the book. The concert scene was really cute and touching how Lou was really trying to make Will enjoy his life again. When Lou bit the tag off Will's jacket I was in stitches! 

My favourite scene of the film was probably Lou's birthday dinner. The comedy was excellent in this scene particularly with Patrick watching the relationship between Will and Lou and how close they had gotten especially when Lou was spoon feeding Will- I thought it was good that although this film was fairly serious with regards to the subject content of euthanasia and paralytics it was still fairly light hearted when handling the topic. Patrick's gift to Lou compared with Will's was brilliant- the use of the tacky 'Patrick' heart necklace highlighted his unaffectionate and personal relationship with his girlfriend. The sheer joy on Lou's face when she received the bumblebee tights was adorable to watch and made me so happy to watch.

The ending of the film was absolutely devastating. The beach scene when Will tells Lou that she isn't enough for him to want to keep on living was just heartbreaking to watch and the performances were excellent during that scene. I must admit though I felt that Will's death could've been more upsetting- the film cut the death scene too short I personally felt.  However the final scene with Lou in Paris was so bittersweet and I really enjoyed the ultimate ending scene. 

Rating: 8/10