What do you get when you combine actors from “Harry Potter,” “Doctor Who,” “The Hunger Games” and “Game of Thrones?”
The answer is not some action-packed blockbuster, but instead this summer’s tepid romantic drama, “Me Before You.” Based off of the bestselling novel by Jojo Moyes, “Me Before You” follows Emilia Clarke’s (“Game of Thrones”) quirky, oddly-dressed Louisa Clark as she cares for her quadriplegic employer, Will Traynor (Sam Claflin, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2”).
Equal parts arrogant and self-pitying, Traynor begins the film as the kind of character that you know you are supposed to feel sorry for, but somehow cannot find it in you to do so.
As the nearly two hour film continues, his cynicism begins to change as the determined Clark, a character copied and pasted from Zooey Deschanel’s playbook, gradually tries to show him life is worth living.
With that in mind, Clarke’s performance is a fun, upbeat contrast to her role as everybody’s favorite dragon-riding queen. It is also refreshing to see her on the silver screen in a leading role after her part in last summer’s “Terminator Genisys” failed to leave a lasting impression.
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Not afraid to wander into controversial areas, “Me Before You” examines the complexities surrounding the issue of assisted suicide. Ultimately a reasonably heartfelt piece of cinema, one’s reactions to this movie will likely have a lot to do with how a person feels about this topic.
On one hand, the film tastefully portrays the difficulties a disabled individual might face that could lead them to consider suicide. But on the flip side, it becomes difficult to openly support a lead character’s decision to end their own life.
Though the film talks about suicide and the effects it has on others, aside from a short scene of Clark crying, it is presented as a loving option for ending a life.
While the movie may not have been as tear-jerking as other terminal love stories such as 2014’s “The Fault in Our Stars,” it does carry more emotional weight than a majority of the genre today (looking at you, Nicholas Sparks).
If you can accept the controversial nature of the plot, and overlook some of the usual love story clichés — such as the self-obsessed boyfriend (Matthew Lewis, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2”) and the former lover marrying a best friend — “Me Before You” turns out to be an enjoyable, sincere film about how our lives affect those around us.
