Every once in a while I think it’s only fair that I go with my wife to see a movie which is more in line with her taste than mine. She dutifully came along to see Captain America: Civil War with me recently, despite not being the big superhero fan that I am. So, now it was my turn to return the favour! Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t mind the odd rom-com or anything else that could be described as a ‘chick flick’, but only if it’s done well. And, quite often, they’re not done well.

On paper, Me Before You didn’t sound like it was going to be my kind of movie. Emilia Clarke plays Lou, a waitress who is hired as a companion/carer to Will (Sam Claflin), a wealthy man who is paralysed following an accident. Will initially doesn’t take to her, but that eventually begins to change… Hmmm, pretty easy to work out where this is headed after that!

So, that was my expectation, and I do like it when movies defy my expectations so I was kind of hoping this one would.

Things started off pretty badly though with a few rushed scenes seemingly trying to get our two main characters together as quickly as humanly possible. Will has a successful, perfect life with a beautiful girl when suddenly he’s hit by a motorbike. Lou is a waitress who is given the sack when the cafe she works in hits hard times, goes for an interview to be Wills carer having had no experience whatsoever, doesn’t do well in the interview but is given the job and expected to start straight away! It all felt false and unlikely and not a good start.

But Emilia Clarke is bubbly, bright, beautiful and funny. She’s instantly likeable and absolutely brilliant in this role. It’s not long before she’s warming your heart at the same time she’s warming Wills. There’s also a great supporting cast to this movie and overall I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. But, Will is a broken man in many ways, prone to illness and they’re not warning you to take plenty of tissues into the cinema for this movie for nothing…

Now, if I can just convince my wife to come with me to see The Conjuring 2 next week…😊

Lee Boardman

Web developer by day, with a movie and TV watchlist that continues to grow as much as my spare time reduces! My favourite movie is Inception and, despite what everyone says, I do not have a man-crush on Tom Cruise.