ME BEFORE YOU REVIEWED
“Me Before You” was a rather popular novel that I never read. The film adaptation was something that I didn’t plan on seeing it. As I got ready to see the film, I wondered why WB was taking such a giant risk trying to use it for counter programming. This was the kind of fare best saved to sneak in during the early fall. You might not get Oscar nominations, but you can get hit that book club crowd that can push these movies to better box offices. That would work if this film wasn’t so boring. There’s nothing here that hasn’t been done before. The only thing new is the creation of the sub fantasy female creature known as the Magic Pixie Dream Caretaker.
Emilia Clarke has charming screen presence and she lights up every scene she headlines. Seeing her work alongside Clara Oswald (I know that’s not her real name) achieved some male nerd Tumblr fantasy. But, what of the film? Well, Khaleesi has to convince wheelchair guy not to kill himself in 6 months. She teaches him of class disparity, while carefully dancing around the sexual assault described in the book. The caretaker was assaulted before coming to the service of the wheelchair guy. It’s not like the guy got sexually assault to the point of being in a wheelchair. That would make this into a different kind of movie.
There’s an art to the female powered movie that can keep it out of that “Chick Flick” territory. That moniker is so derogatory, even when it’s not meant to be. But, some films earn that sharp knife twist of nomenclature. This is one of those films. I hear that the source novel is much better. It didn’t help that was coming from people screeching that point after my screening. Fandom is harsh all over, people.
ME BEFORE YOU STATS
Studio: Warner Brothers
Runtime: 1hr 50 mins
Rating: PG-13