Me Before You (2016)

Directed by Thea Sharrock. Starring Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Steve Peacocke, Matthew Lewis, Janet McTeer, Charles Dance, Brendan Coyle, Samantha Spiro, Vanessa Kirby. [PG-13]

Desperate for work, Clarke accepts a job as caretaker for a quadriplegic man (Claflin); he’s suicidally depressed, and a burden on his family, but Clarke wins him over against his cynical instincts, sparking a difficult and doomed romance. Shades of Dying Young and The Fault in Our Stars in this pandering weepie—it’s not quite as bad as either of those, but it’s still far too glossy and contrived to win over anyone who doesn’t immediately get teary-eyed just reading the premise. Had the opportunity to delve into its contentious topics (euthanasia and dignity-in-disability, chief among them), but instead treats them with kid gloves because it’s best not to charge up the brain cells when the viewer is meant to simply fall in love with the lead characters as they fall in love with each other…and to have the hankies ready to go! Clarke and Claflin are both let down by the limitations of their character decisions and Thea Sharrock’s clumsy direction, which expects reaction shots to tell the story and audience expectations to fill in the blanks. Written by the author of the same-named book it’s adapted from: Jojo Meyes. Joanna Lumley cameos as a wedding guest.

36/100