First Take: Me Before You- a chick flick that is a lot more than romantic fluff

SYPNOSIS:

A girl in a small town forms an unlikely bond with a recently-paralyzed man she’s taking care of.

This is one of the few films that has taken audiences by surprise- as I write this, it has just become the UK number 1- but even though Me Before You is from a genre overlooked by mainstream audiences (unless you’re talking about your John Green or Nicholas Sparks adaptations), it is still a brilliant piece of filmmaking. Thea Sharrock’s direction is really good, with Jojo Moyes’ screenplay, based from her own book, making the characters rounded, believable and at the same time creating people who you can really emotionally engage with, and without the brilliant performances from Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin, the film wouldn’t be as good as it is. Speaking of the cast, there are also some great performances from Jenna Coleman and Charles Dance, and the brilliant cameo from Joanna Lumley just makes this film ooze with class and dignity. There may have been some controversy over this film’s depiction of disability, but at the end of the day, it’s just a very well made and thought out piece of big screen entertainment.

RATING- 4/5