You get that this is doomed, right? I don’t wish to spoil anything, but it’s so much easier to talk about this film if we all get the idea that she has working limbs and he doesn’t, which means that eventually there will problems in this relationship you won’t be able to wish away.
We start with the ever positive Lou Clark (Emilia Clarke; well, gee, are we selecting leading actresses based on name, now? Perhaps we can introduce remakes like Sarah Jessica Parker in Bonnie and Clyde or Catherine O’Hara starring in Gone with the Wind. Yes, this is a Spinal Tap joke; I’m borrowing.) Stealing again from Tap, Lou dresses like an Australian’s nightmare. Never a skirt too flouncy, never a pair of tights too stripe-y and never a color too garish, Lou acts as if the pure manner of middle school dress gone bad will
elevate her mood on its own. And she’s probably right.
On the castle side of town, the rich kid has gone down. Prodigal son Will Traynor (Sam Clafin) was, I dunno, mangled in the Quarter Quell or whatever, and can no longer move below the neck. And he’s not pleased about it. This is difficult acting. Your face has to convey the entirety of your thought whether or not it matches the words you speak. And for Ms. Clark(e) it’s not easy acting opposite an almost literal wall, either … kudos to the business partners of Clafin & Clarke in Me Before You. Without an ounce of training, Lou is hired to sit for Will. Her sunny disposition is often challenged by his morose; the entire basis of Act I is this war of wills, so-to-speak.
We know where this is going and we want it to go there. Lou has never stepped outside this British Open in town form and Will is nice enough to deserve use of his limbs. One of the intriguing things here is Will’s sudden rivalry with Lou’s boyfriend, Neville (Matthew Lewis). Actually, he’s “Patrick” here, but this guy is always going to be Neville for me. Anyhoo, Neville is a small-time triathlete – and you fellas ought to study up a bit on triathlons and competitive race times to make those of us in the know believe it, but that’s irrelevant—this conflict is fascinating in that we’re actually rooting for the rich kid here; apparently on the mass scale of rooting interests, quadriplegia ranks ahead of lack of wealth, so much so, in fact, that we the audience are pulling for Will to use his wealth to best Neville. That’s kinda harsh, huh? But hey, Will listens to her, Neville doesn’t.
Part of the problem with the doomed romance genre is the sugar coating. Will Traynor is immobile, but he still looks like Sam Clafin, so we can imagine that Lou’s love is romantic and mutual and not just the Florence Nightengale effect. Also, Will has his own private doctor, trainer, and -for lack of a better word- wetnurse in the form of Nathan (Stephen Peacocke, who isn’t Luke Hemsworth, go figure), hence 95% of those nasty bits of loving a person you have to feed, clean, dress, etc. are carefully glossed over. It’s not just that the film chooses not to show them to us; Lou never has to deal with any of that, it’s 
not her job. And it’s not that Lou never sees an ugly side of Will – he can be a pain in the ass– but putting up with a pain in the ass and then having to wipe his ass? Well, that is, IMHO, a much greater depth of love.
Me Before You is a full step below The Fault in Our Stars from my vantage point, and yet it will still appeal to the same crowd in the same way, perhaps just not as much. I enjoyed it enough to want to see both these actors do more than spar from a wheelchair.
Check it, Miss Mirthfulness
Unemployed nonetheless
She and the fam need a sugar daddy
On the other side of the castle tracks
Check it out, kid money lacks
The use of limbs to any slight degree
How can she ever warm that thaw?
Got something stuck up in his craw
Maybe she can just let him be
Look at this love, it’s a tragedy
You’re gonna weep like a willow tree
Made exactly for folks who can’t stand 3D
Rated PG-13, 110 Minutes
D: Thea Sharrock
W: Jojo Moyes
Genre: Doomed romance
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Hopeless romantics
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Realists
