Watch out, Nicholas Sparks: you’ve got some competition, and she goes by Jojo Moyes.
Moyes released her best selling novel ‘Me Before You’ in 2012 and is also the screenwriter behind the adaptation, directed by Thea Sharrock. It’s a five-alarm tear-jerker and can rival any Sparks sob-fest.
Lou Clark (Emilia Clarke, 'Game Of Thrones', 'Terminator Genisys') is a beautiful soul who believes any problem can be solved with a cup of tea. With absolutely no experience but desperate for a job, she accepts the position of a carer for the wealthy and prickly former banker, Will Traynor (Sam Claflin, 'The Huntsman: Winter's War', 'The Hunger Games' franchise), who’s a quadriplegic. Her bubbly personality and bold outfits fail to win over Will straight away, but patience and persistence eventually break down the wall, and Lou tries to show Will all the world has to offer despite his condition.
SWITCH: 'ME BEFORE YOU' EXTENDED TRAILER 2
Okay, spoiler alert, ‘Me Before You‘ features assisted suicide, and for that the film’s release and reception has been marred in controversy, with disabled people and anti-euthanasia activists leading protests all over the place. Look, I - unlike a lot of people I suspect are voicing their opinion over this film - have actually seen it, and now I’m about to lay down some shocking truth on you - this isn’t a documentary! This is a love story, plain and simple, about a woman and a man who just happens to be physically disabled. ‘Me Before You‘ doesn’t attempt to or even represent itself as a story that speaks on behalf of those in a similar condition. ‘Me Before You‘ is about who these people are, and not what these people are. It’s about two individuals, not two types of people. That is all.
It’s a five-alarm tear-jerker and can rival any Sparks sob-fest.
So now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I can tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I love a good cry and I love a good love story. Emilia Clarke is impossibly adorable and hard not to fall for, while Claflin is just so darn handsome and charming it makes you weak at the knees. Together their chemistry is what really elevates the movie and saves it from its flaws. Sure, it hits all the right notes to provoke the desired reactions and tears in a skillfully manipulative way, but then again, don’t all these types of movies? This is entertainment, and it’s good.