Love So Lame

Rating: 4/10 (14 June 2016)

(RATING: ☆☆ out of 5) THIS FILM IS NOT RECOMMENDED. IN BRIEF: There are disabilities aplenty in this sappy screen adaptation, mostly in its politically- correct thinking. GRADE: C- SYNOPSIS: A beautiful caretaker falls in love with her handsome quadriplegic patient. JIM'S REVIEW: There have been much talk and many catchy phrases about the subject of love that have been set to music: "Love will find a way. Love hurts. Love makes the world go round. Love will keep us together. Love the one you're with. True love never runs smooth." These pop ditties are never heard in the insufferable tearjerker of a movie entitled Me Before You. Still they do form the basis for the relationship of two mismatched beautiful people who become soulmates amid love's many obstacles. ￼The story goes like this: Recently unemployed Louisa (Emilia Clarke) becomes a nursemaid and companion to handsome but clinical depressed Will Trayor (Sam Clafin), once a rugged sportsman and successful executive, the whole package, and now a disheartened quadriplegic. Will has no will to live but Louisa, or Lou as she is lovingly called, is Little Miss Sunshine personified, a kooky supposedly adorable waif and perhaps the perfect antidote to Will's bouts of suicide. At least Will's rich parents hope that Lou will be the cure-all to lift Will's spirits and change his mind and mood swings. It didn't change mine. ￼With an abysmal screenplay by Jojo Moyes and based on her best-selling novel (which I fortunately did not read but am told the book tackles more serious themes), the film shies away from any semblance of reality and settles smack dab in the soapiest of waters. I guess every generation needs its own Love Story, but is it too much to ask for some darker moments to help us relate to Will's physical condition? One only hears of, but never sees, Will's pain and suffering. ￼Yet Will isn't the only one suffering here. Any moviegoer in their right mind would want to pull the plug on this claptrap. Truthfully, the whole ethical issue of patient's rights and euthanasia deserves a fair better and more honest treatment. (That was done in a film called The Sessions. View that excellent film instead, dear readers.) ￼But this is suppose to be a love story, the equivalent to a pulpy romance paperback novel. And on its own terms and genre, the movie fails miserably, mostly due to insipid directorial debut by Thea Sharrock, who searches out for the tritest of images and succeeds in making the bad even worse, laughably outrageous "exotic" costumes by Jill Taylor, and the hammiest performance by one of the leads. ￼Try as he must, Mr. Caiflin does bring some poignancy to his poorly written character. How he was able to keep a straight face throughout this film and watch Ms. Clarke overdo her acting in the most ridiculous of outfits and hair styles would be challenging enough for any actor. The actress is not helped by her director or costumers. She is seen in the most garish of garb, from fuzzy colorful sweaters and busy ugly prints, in outfits any fashionable 13 year old would instantly reject. Her hair styles range from braids and pigtails to Frau Brucher Germanic up-dos, which telegraph more emotion than the actress can muster. We are suppose to be enamored by Lou's quirkiness, but the overall effect is an off-putting goofiness. Who could blame Will for ending his life...suicide would be anyone's choice after experiencing Ms. Clarke's cutesy performance! If nothing else, there is fine supporting work by Charles Dance, Janet McTeer, and Brendan Coyle, all distinguished British actors who would be wise to omit this film from their resume. Also, Stephen Peacocke, resembling a young Hugh Grant, literally does some heavy lifting and delivers a nicely nuanced performance as Will's full-time doctor, Nathan, one of the few subtlest contributions found in this film. (By the way, in retrospect, everyone is so inexplicably darn good-looking in this movie.) ￼With all that is said and done here, writer H. L. Mencken's ultimate quote of the subject of love may succinctly sum up everything that is wrong with this silly film: "Love is a triumph of imagination over intelligence." Me Before You has neither of those valued commodities.