'Me before you' review: This movie has the tendency to be infururiating and charming to viewers!

6.5/10

Me Before You is a romantic drama based on Jojo Moyes' moving novel about a young woman (Emilia Clarke) in a tiny English town who takes the job of caring for an unhappy man (Sam Claflin) left paralyzed after being hit by a motorcycle.

This movie treads a tricky thin line, both infuriating and charming viewers. The charm can be chalked up to star Clarke; she makes Lou the type of beguiling creature who is, quirky, irreverent, and usually irresistible. Which is also where the infuriation comes in: The MPDG (manic pixi dream girl) usually serves the function of making a male protagonist feel lightened and leavened, without experiencing much development herself. (All we really know about Lou in the movie is that she's cheery, optimistic, and kind; wears horrible clothing; and dreams of being in fashion in some vague way, we didn't really find out much else about her compared to the book (people have told me).

And then there's the fact that Me Before You  feels somewhat manipulative, with its BIG. SAD. FEELINGS. No melancholy moment is left unaccompanied by too-on-the-nose music, every close interaction between Lou and Will gets a close-up. There's also a feeling of condescension toward the have-nots and the disabled. Will is portrayed as fundamentally dissatisfied with a life that (even though family money affords him comfort, luxuries and round-the-clock care) apparently just isn't good enough because he misses his old life, one that Lou herself (and, by extension, the film) has characterized as shallow. But perhaps most upsetting of all is how, despite all of this, Me Before You works on a certain level. You'll likely cry (in between eye-rolls) and be moved and root for the couple, for Lou, and for the idea of hope and renewed joy.