While I’ve more than once pointed out that standard template used by comic book movies, it’s not the only genre that has a winning formula. The weepie romance also has a blueprint familiar to audiences, and while you’ll probably see every moment of the upcoming “Me Before You” coming from three miles away, for certain viewers, that doesn’t matter one one bit.
Starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin, and based on the book by Jojo Moyes, the story about a quirky young woman who falls for the disabled man she cares for is pure hokum, but again, for a certain audience, this might be pure hokum that really works. Here’s the official synopsis:
Louisa “Lou” Clark (Clarke) lives in a quaint town in the English countryside. With no clear direction in her life, the quirky and creative 26-year-old goes from one job to the next in order to help her tight-knit family make ends meet. Her normally cheery outlook is put to the test, however, when she faces her newest career challenge. Taking a job at the local “castle,” she becomes caregiver and companion to Will Traynor (Claflin), a wealthy young banker who became wheelchair bound in an accident two years prior, and whose whole world changed dramatically in the blink of an eye. No longer the adventurous soul he once was, the now cynical Will has all but given up. That is until Lou determines to show him that life is worth living. Embarking together on a series of adventures, both Lou and Will get more than they bargained for, and find their lives—and hearts—changing in ways neither one could have imagined.
“Me Before You” opens on June 3rd.