‘Me Before You’

IN their latest book-to-film features, Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin star in ‘Me Before You’ (2016). A tear-chasing romantic drama based on the Jojo Moyes bestseller of the same name.

Set in a quaint English village, ‘Me Before You’ focuses on young Louisa Clark. A friendly teashop waitress with zero ambitions and a penchant for clashing colours, crazy prints and putting others first. Played excessively by Clarke, Louisa soon finds herself out of a job and taking up a new one as a caregiver for a quadriplegic man named Will Traynor.

Once a successful big city business whiz, adrenaline junkie and generous lover, après a traffic accident, Will is confined to his family home where he grows cold, bitter and supremely sarcastic.

Armed with a cheerful wardrobe, doe-eyes and charming sincerity, Louisa helps Will thaw but soon begins to realise that horse racing outings and trips to Mallorca barely graze the surface of his despair.

A far cry from Clarke’s imposing Daenerys Targaryen in ‘Game of Thrones’, it takes a while to warm to Louisa who seems a feminist nightmare of servility and a lack of ambition. Portrayed in sharp contrast to Claflin’s dour Heathcliff’esque Will, their chemistry just about shines through the chasteness of their blossoming and often awkward interaction.

Somewhat Nicholas Sparks in narrative but short on any substantial depth of feeling, ‘Me Before You,’ without giving too much away, certainly mines the tear caves but via a medley of superficial treatment, backstory and character may leave one surprisingly dry eyed.

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