ME BEFORE YOU (12A)

Posted by ruthmedia on June 2, 2016 in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

ME BEFORE YOU (12A)

Run time: 109mins

Director:  Thea Sharrock

Cast: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflln, Jenna Coleman, Charles Dance, Janet McTeer, Brendan Coyle

Synopsis: Louisa Clark lives in a quaint town in the English countryside.  With no clear direction in her life, the quirky and creative 26-year-old goes from one job to the next in order to help her tight-knit family make ends meet.   Her normally cheery outlook is put to the test, however, when she faces her newest career challenge.  Taking a job at the local “castle,” she becomes caregiver and companion to Will Traynor, a wealthy young banker who became wheelchair bound in an accident two years prior, and whose whole world changed dramatically in the blink of an eye.  No longer the adventurous soul he once was, the now cynical Will has all but given up – that is until Lou determines to show him that life is worth living.

URL: www.facebook.com/MeBeforeYouFilm

Acclaimed theatre and television director, Thea Sharrock [Call the Midwife (TV 2012); The Hollow Crown (TV 2012); As You Like It at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (2010)] brings us this glossy romantic four hanky weepie, adapted by Jo Jo Moyes from her 2012 novel.

With a heartrending plot involving a cheerful, quirky, small town girl, Lou – Emilia Clarke [Game of Thrones (TV); Dom Hemingway (2013)] – who takes a job with a wealthy family to act for six months as a carer for their quadriplegic son, Will – Sam Claflin [The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016); The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1&2; The Riot Club (2014.].

Will had been successful but the accident has taken away his desire to live.  After a rocky start with Lou, their relationship soon grows into something much deeper.

A heart-breaking, funny and romantic film, Me Before You has good ensemble acting and attractive leads.  It is not Untouchable, the 2011 French hit from directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano about a beautiful quadriplegic friendship, based on a real life story; but both films interestingly underline the cushioning effects of financial wealth.

Images courtesy of WARNER BROS