"Me Before You" was one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I have seen. The breathtaking story written by Jojo Moyes was turned into a beautiful film that will take you on an emotional roller coaster. You'll laugh, smile, cry, then laugh, smile and cry some more. As a film, I'd rate it a solid 95 percent, and as a book-to-movie adaptation I'd rate it with a 90 percent.
The cast was perfectly chosen for Jojo's characters. Emilia Clarke did a flawless job as the dorky, quirky and lovable Lou Clark. Sam Claflin also did an excellent job portraying the complex character of Will Traynor. So many of his facial expressions got so many feelings sweeping through me. I also kept thinking that it must have been difficult for him to keep a straight face while filming with Emilia's (Lou's) adorable personality and smile.
The movie is the book...just with many other story lines from the novel left out. As someone that just finished then novel, I recognized the dialogue in the film was almost exactly the same as in the book. Turns out, Jojo Moyes wrote the screenplay. Like with all book-to-movie adaptations we can't have the movie be six hours so that everything from the novel can be brought to life, but I thought the choices made to make this novel into a film were appropriately chosen. Everything that happened on screen happened within the pages of the book. There was only one thing that happened in the movie that happened differently in the book, but it was so small that it didn't affect the story. Sure, there were story lines and other moments that I wish had made it into the film, but the heart of the story remained the same without them.
I saw the film on the night before its official release, along with other dedicated fans. Throughout the entire movie you could hear lots of laughs, sniffs, "awes" and I even heard someone clap quietly during a certain moment that also made me want to squeal. This love story is surely one that will stick with you and will even make you think about the meaning of life.
Live boldly.