Deserves to be seen

Rating: Null/10 (11 February 2017)

I have not read the best-selling romantic novel "Me Before You" by English author Jojo Moyes but I have to assume that the film adaptation of the same name is faithful to the original story since the script was written by the author herself. Some might regard it as a female movie since, as well as a woman scriptwriter, we have Thea Sharrock in her debut role as a film director. Certainly there are elements of "Bridget's Jones' Diary" and "Love Actually", but "Me Before You" has a harder edge and a tearful ending.
It is a very British story in that in it is shot in some quintessentially British locations (most notably Pembroke Castle in Wales) and it involves class - Lou Clark (played by "Games Of Thrones" star Emilia Clark) is a young woman from a distinctly working class home with limited knowledge and experience, while Will Traynor (Sam Claflin) is from an upper middle class background and has had a stellar business career. But unusually it is a story about disability, since Will is a quadriplegic following a traffic accident and Lou is his carer. She is reluctant to take on a role for which she has no relevant experience and he is even more reluctant to have someone hired essentially to bath him in her huge smile.
The film has been criticised by disability campaign groups for what is claimed to be an unfair and unhelpful position on disability, but really Moyes is not presenting a moral stance on severe disability in general, but one possible outcome in one particular fictional story. The stars are very engaging (especially Clarke in Manic Pixie Dream Girl mode) and there is humour as well as sadness in a work that I feel deserves to be seen.