Review of Me Before You Movie and an Emotional Movie Night with My Daughter

Last Updated on February 17, 2017 by Diane Hoffmaster

Last night was movie night with my teen daughter since the boys were out enjoying a rock concert for the evening.  I decided to share my review of Me Before You because I was truly moved by this story.  It was number one on my daughter's list of movies to watch and I am so glad we watched it together.  It was incredibly emotional but gave us a few good things to talk about after the movie was finished.  I would classify this one as a romantic tragedy I think with the primary talking points being assisted suicide and living your life as boldly as you can.  Me Before You covers some heavy topics so if you don't think your teen is mature enough or if you have serious problems with the idea of assisted suicide, please don't watch this. This movie was adapted from the bestselling novel of the same name by Jo Jo Moyes.

Review of Me Before You

Affiliate link for purchase:  Me Before You the movie

• Actors: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Charles Dance, Jenna Coleman, Matthew Lewis
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: August 30, 2016
• Run Time: 110 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Genre: Drama

Me Before You Amazon Blurb:

Young and quirky Louisa "Lou" Clark (Emilia Clarke) moves from one job to the next to help her family make ends meet. Her cheerful attitude is put to the test when she becomes a caregiver for Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a wealthy young banker left paralyzed from an accident two years earlier. Will's cynical outlook starts to change when Louisa shows him that life is worth living. As their bond deepens, their lives and hearts change in ways neither one could have imagined.

 

Review of Me Before You

Me Before You doesn't get great ratings if you look on sites like Rotten Tomatoes.  I honestly don't get it because I thought it was a phenomenal story.

In Me Before You, Louisa "lou" Clark jumps from one job to another to help her family make ends meet.  She is let go from her job because the shop is closing and decides to apply to be a personal assistant to a handicapped man (Will Traynor).  She has zero experience but is fairly desperate.  She is incredibly upbeat, a bit quirky and has a slightly outlandish style of dressing that is both flamboyant and whimsical.  Her positive attitude is put to the test when she meets Will and starts diving into her job.

You are given a glimpse of Will in a brief scene or two before his accident.  He is high on life, loves adventure and has a busy and fulfilling life.  Then he is left paralyzed from the chest down in an accident.  He has limited use of his hands and has some serious health problems as a result of his injuries.  A lot of the complaints on Rotten Tomatoes stem from the movie not being realistic about life with his particular handicaps.  While I know nothing of what someone with these injuries would actually live like, they don't seem to gloss over much.  From bathroom problems to pneumonia to a whole host of other issues, they let you know how horribly he is suffering, even when he tries to act like he is having a good time.

Will is angry and cynical for most of the movie and Louisa has decided that she wants to teach him how to love life again.  She finds out that he is considering assisted suicide and wants to show him that there is so much still to live for.  In the process, their bond deepens, they begin to fall for each other, and Louisa thinks maybe he will change his mind.

SPOILER ALERT:

If you read any other review of Me Before You, you will realize that this movie does not have a happy ending.  I didn't read any reviews ahead of time and held out hope til the very end that Will would change his mind.  He doesn't.  He truly believes that the life he is existing in isn't what he wants and he refuses to let Louisa tie herself to him when she could have so much more.

Will's only request for Louisa is that she live boldly and he leaves her a sum of money to allow her to do that.

I was truly torn at the end of this story as I discussed it with my teenager.  Will has a close relationship with his parents and you see them throughout the entire movie.  To know that he is leaving them so devastated  just hurts my heart as a parent.  But Will is determined that this is not the life he wants to live.  And you can't make someone live a life that they have no interest in living.

And the secondary message of live boldly is one I hope both of my children take to heart.  Life is precious and should be spent in pursuit of the things we are truly passionate about.

I hope my review of Me Before You has been helpful and if you end up watching it, let me know what you think!

Me Before You Official Trailer

Diane Hoffmaster

Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy.  She has two college aged kids, one husband and more pets than she will admit to. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire  but left her career in science to become a stay at home mom. Years of playing with LEGO and coloring with crayons had her craving a more grown up purpose to her life and she began blogging and freelance writing full time.  You can learn more about her HERE.