My Rating 6.5/10 (Personal 3/5, Production-1, People-1.5, Plot-1)
There are so many things that go into reviewing a movie aside from the actual movie itself. Personal preference; moods; and expectations, to name but a few. Watching Me Before You is an interesting litmus test in determining the sort of personal bias you bring into a cinema.
Me Before You is not a genre defining gem but it also doesn’t succumb to the general banality of many inauthentic romantic comedies. Instead, the inherent character drama allows the movie to remain captivating on an emotional level even if that emotion is not centred on the romance.
Appropriately the leads, Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke, carry the movie dramatically, comedically and even structurally, providing an anchor to keep audiences engaged even when we can feel where the plot is taking us long before we get there. Their relationship works on multiple levels – though the romantic nature of it rings as surprisingly unnecessary.
Individually, the scenes themselves vary from eye-rolling to entertainingly fresh but ultimately they come together in the crescendo that is the climax.
Me Before You brings up a lot of interesting existential and deeply personal questions about who we are as individuals and how we affect the people around us. If those concepts need to be wrapped up in a neatly conventional bow and sprinkled with a light smattering of cliche, then so be it.
Milim on Movies 
Leave a comment