Cinema Review – Me Before You

Me Before You

In a romantic blub-fest such as this, rule number one says that if your leading man needs to be in a wheelchair then he’d better be as handsome as a matinee idol and have a seductive tenor voice. Will (Sam Claflin) ticks both boxes and, on top of that, he looks as fit as a trout. His tragic circumstances – a spinal injury that’s left him a quadriplegic with no hope of recovery – is at the core of a film by Thea Sharrock that deals honestly and even-handedly with the question of euthanasia. Having once had the world at his feet, Will has decided that he would rather end it all than live out his days as a spoon-fed cripple. The movie has caused outrage among those similarly afflicted, who object to the suggestion that life for them is pointless. I didn’t quite take it that way, for Sharrock makes it clear that Will is the type of high achiever and extreme sportsman who might understandably react to his plight in the way he does – but then again, I am able-bodied. In any case, it’s all about the girl. Lou (Emilia Clarke) is a bouncy soul going nowhere. Still living at home in a Dibleyesque town, she is unable to find work until offered the job as Will’s carer/companion. Inevitably, a close bond grows between them and Lou’s dismay is profound when she learns of Will’s intention. Whichever side you take in the argument, decisions such as Will’s cannot be made without the consideration of others in mind and in one forthright scene, Lou’s mother, wearing a rather too obvious crucifix around her neck, states categorically that what Will wants to do is plain wrong. Will’s filthy-rich parents (Janet McTeer and Charles Dance) happen to own the local castle, whereas Lou’s family is strictly working class, so the British obsession with class and noblesse oblige also contributes to the story, while also providing the ‘opposites attract’ idea. Against my better judgment, I loved every minute of it.