Me Before You

A young, quirky woman (Emilia Clarke) forms an unusual bond with a recently-paralysed man (Sam Claflin), who has essentially given up on life following his accident. As you'd expect with these things, they form a bond and da-da-da-da... Look, it's by the numbers and it's as unpredictable as a clock, but there's too much sweetness here to get too worked up over.

Richard Curtis really does have a lot to answer for. Since his unique brand of British romantic dramedy burst onto the scene, there's been more than a few imitators and pretenders to the throne. In spite of all this, his work - About Time, Four Weddings And A Funeral, Love Actually - are still the benchmark for this particular subgenre. It still hasn't stopped people from trying, with first-time film director Thea Sharrock giving it an honest attempt with her adaptation of JoJo Moyes' bestselling weepy, Me Before You.

Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke is Louisa Clark, a young woman with little or no ambitions of her own who wanders into a job working as a care assistant for a rich toff who's recently been paralysed in an motorcycle accident. The Traynors, a rich family living in an enormous castle, bring in Louisa to tend to Will (Sam Claflin) and attempt to lift his spirits. Little by little, Louisa attempts to break down the walls that Will has set up and dissuade him from a certain path that he seems truly intent on following. Before long, Will begins to lower his guard and, through Louisa's help, becomes more open. He, in turn, begins to help her on her way out of her narrow life.

All seems fairly standard so far, right? That's because it essentially is your standard redemption-love-story that works its way through familiar beats and storylines before it eventually goes right off the deep end. For those who have read the book, they'll know what's coming and what to expect, but for anyone else, it's a bit of a shock. It's easy to see why there's been protests and a backlash against the film because the subject is quite controversial and isn't exactly handled with the greatest of care. In spite of this, there's still a lot to like about the film that doesn't revolve around this particular nugget.

Emilia Clarke gives a nuanced and human performance as Lou; it's clear that she's using this role as an attempt to distance herself entirely from Game of Thrones and prove that she can do more than ride a CGI dragon and scream at the top of her lungs. Sam Claflin, meanwhile, calls to mind Alan Rickman with his icy, dismissive stature. It's the eventual thawing between them that forms the basis of the film and its more potent moments. We can really see that there's a bond and a chemistry forming between them, in despite of Claflin's best efforts. Both Janet McTeer and Charles Dance, who play Claflin's parents, greatly underplay their roles in order to allow others - Claflin and Clarke, essentially - time to breathe on screen.

Thea Harrock's direction is confident and assured and there isn't a trace of her theatrical background in the film anywhere. There's a real sense that she's fully enjoying working with a camera and using it to soak up all the colour and beauty in the world, which is just how Clarke's character sees it. It's only that the script is more than a little hamfisted - adapted by JoJo Moyes - that it starts to get a little silly and over-the-top. One particular scene at a wedding sees people aghast as the sight of a man in a wheelchair, so much so that you'd think it was almost done for comic effect. Likewise, the eventual ending of the film doesn't exactly gel with what's come before and, honestly, could leave you more than a little angry.

Still, it's trying its best to make you cry and drain the emotions out of you and, on that basis, Me Before You succeeds entirely.