ME BEFORE YOU (Thea Sharrock). 110 minutes. Opens Friday (June 3). See listings. Rating: NNN
This adaptation of Jojo Moyess bestseller isnt great filmmaking, but it does capture most of what made the book so affecting.
Underachieving 20-something Louisa aka Lou (Emilia Clarke) lives in a small English tourist town when shes laid off from her modest job. Having to support her extended family, she lands a position without any qualifications as a caregiver to Will (Sam Claflin), a quadriplegic man living with his chilly, posh parents (Janet McTeer and Charles Dance, both excellent). The experience changes both Lou and Wills lives forever.
Thea Sharrock has directed some TV, but this is her feature film debut, and it shows. Theres little visual inventiveness, and she cant shoot a scene without underscoring it with some sappy emo ballad. Moyess script is a little too on the nose in its The Intouchables-meets-Pygmalion cliches, and even then there are some holes.
Moyes began her career as a journalist, and her research into disability activism and rights gave the novel a lot of texture. Here, Lous education takes part largely during a brief montage at the library. Lovers of the book will also miss the tattoo parlour scene, and the absence of an entire plot point involving a maze renders Lous character much less compelling and believable.
But Clarke, with no trace of Game Of Thrones imperious Daenerys Targaryen, is enchanting. Outfitted in a different candy-coloured costume in each scene, she demonstrates terrific comic timing, although I wish she got to show more emotional range. (Her face seems stuck in a clown-like grin for much of the film.)
Claflin (Finnick from The Hunger Games films) shows great restraint and depth, speaking volumes with a glance and a tilt of the head.
The two have wonderful chemistry, and there are fun turns by Harry Potters Matthew Lewis, Absolutely Fabulous Joanna Lumley and Downton Abbeys Brendan Coyle.
Just keep in mind that whenever anyone appears near the settings big castle (it was filmed at Pembroke Castle in Wales), theyre inevitably overshadowed.
And remember to bring Kleenex.
