Movie Review: Me Before You

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, aka the book that made me cry buckets. I went to see the movie the first day it started screening here, which was last night, and I loved it. The movie was superb. I might be a tiny bit biased because I loved the book, but personally, as far as movie adaptation goes, this movie more than did the book justice. If anything, it was almost better than the book, if I do say so myself. 

*spoiler alert* Duh

Casting:

Credit: imdb.com

Whoever did the casting (too lazy to google) deserves a medal. Casting Emilia Clarke as Louisa Clark is one of the driving factors that made the movie as great as it is. I haven't seen Game of Thrones yet, so I wasn't quite familiar with her, but boy, do I want to start watching the series now. Emilia is everything I imagined Lou to be and more. She's upbeat, quirky, cheerful, a tad bizarre, innocent, and is amazed by anything in life. Her eyebrows were so expressive, I was fascinated by it.

In the book, Lou was certainly not stick thin, and Emilia was exactly that. She's not supermodel beautiful, you know, the high cheek bones, tall and skinny; but she's absolutely gorgeous in her own way, which is better than being supermodel beautiful. I know I'm gushing about her, but this girl, I would totally go lesbian for her. Her smiles. Sigh. 

Sam Claflin. Let's get this out of the way: he's hot. That's how Will Traynor was described after all. He's an asshole and withdrawn from everyone, and Sam portrayed that very well. 

As a matter of fact, this rarely happens to me, but he is exactly how I imagined Will to be when I was reading the book. Almost every character was how I imagined them to be. If you're a vivid reader, I'm sure you can relate on some level. I guess that's one of the reasons that made it on par with the book.

One exception would be Patrick. I thought he didn't seem cold enough towards Lou. 

Storyline:

Because it's only a 111-minute long movie, they left out quite a lot of plots. For instance, they left out the fact that Lou was sexually assaulted, which made her too scared to leave the town she was in. But I guess, in a way, that worked out better for the movie because had she been sexually assaulted, it would have seemed quite odd for her to be so cheerful and innocent. 

Emilia's eyebrows are sometimes out of control. It wasn't a bad thing, just that I felt like it had a life of its own. That's her charm, I guess.

The drama between Lou and her sister, Treena, was also left out. It would've been nice for that to play out because without it, Lou's life was too upbeat and her family was the best family anyone could ever asked for. Adding the drama would give us a glimpse of the flaw in her seemingly "perfect" family. But I understand that the movie was too short, and cutting that part out would not have made any huge difference in the story.

Credit: nytimes.com

The ending was too short. It was too short for the audience to be emotionally devastated by it. Of course, I cried, but it's only because I could remember the lines in the book and how I felt reading it. Will's death was not as tragic and emphasized as in the book, and that is the biggest plot in the story itself. It was too short that my boyfriend wasn't sure if Will died or lived in the end. 

The movie tackled a controversial issue that was put in the spotlight several months ago -- assisted suicide. I have read some negative comments about the movie, saying that it showed that disabled people don't have a life, they're depressed and the mercy thing to do is to let them die. I thought that was a bit too extreme. For one thing, Will was a very ambitious, out-there kind of person. He had a successful career. He was a thrill-seeker. He was a womanizer. For him to be stuck in a wheelchair and almost completely unable to move his body, that can shake anyone. Of course disabled people can live a great life. Look at Stephen Hawking. But not everyone is Stephen Hawking.

People should be given the choice what to do with their lives, including whether or not they want to live. As much as I wish for Will to have changed his mind and live happily ever after, I liked it better that he chose to die. It made the story more realistic. This is not Disney. You can't change someone's mind just by added a charming princess into the picture.It's hard to change someone's mind, especially in cases like this. Yes, Lou changed his life and showed him the world when he thought his life was over, but that was not enough for him. Reality works like that. You can try all you want, but sometimes it's just not enough. I thought it was the ending wrapped the movie up nicely. 

I wouldn't say this movie is overly romantic and cheery. It's hilarious. My boyfriend enjoyed it, too. Unless you're all macho and hate love, I suggested you check this movie out. If you don't like the romance, I bet you'll enjoy the comedy elements, courtesy of Ms. Clarke. 

To that, I leave you with a quote in Me Before You. 

"I will never, ever regret the things I've done. Because most days, all you have are places in your memory that you can go to." Will Traynor. 

Seriously, go watch it. 

Rating: 5/7. Just kidding. I give it a 8.5/10.

Love, Catherine

XOXO