Me Before You - Film and Book Review

From the moment that I heard 'Me Before You' was going to be adapted into a film, I could not wait. It is hands down the best book I have ever read and this meant that the film had a lot to live up to in my eyes.

Something that was crucial to the success of the film, for me, was the choice of casting. When I first read the novel my heart was captured instantly by Louisa Clark and as the book went on you couldn't help but fall in love with her and her bubbly personality. Then there was Will, broken and broody Will, a character that I warmed to so much that I felt every twist and turn that came his way; and this meant that they had to hire the right people for their roles. I can honestly say that they did not disappoint, I have never watched a book to film adaptation where they have got the casting so spot on! I could think of nobody better than Emilia Clark to play Louisa and I think that Sam Claflin did such an amazing job of portraying Will. Not only this, felt that the supporting cast was also full of brilliant choices, will everyones favourite Neville Longbotto, (aka Matthew Lewis ) as Patrick and Jenna Coleman playing Lou's sister.

 In my opinion the adaptation did not diminish the beauty of the novel and I feel that they captured the books' essence so well and I would recommend both film and novel to anyone, just prepare yourself with some tissues! 

I would rate both the novel and the film 5/5 stars as I truly loved them both! 

      

That's everything for the spoiler free section as I'm going to go into some of my favourite parts of the film and also sections that they missed from the novel and what I thought about it.

So firstly I'm going to talk about my three favourite scenes within the film...

Okay, so can we first talk about where Will gives Lou bumble bee tights for her birthday!! I felt that this was portrayed so well and I think that anyone watching couldn't help but love that scene, and fall in love with Will that little bit more. This was also one of my favourite scenes within the novel and I think that ensuring its' place in the movie was the right decision.

It was so hard to narrow down my other two favourites as there where just so many moments where the film got it so right, but I have to include the wedding, in my opinion this scene is a pivotal moment as, for me it was when your really saw Will putting his guard down, letting Louisa in,  and allowing himself to enjoy his time with her. I also loved the part where Lou sat on Will's lap as they danced around the guests and neither cared what anyone else thought. (So bloody cute!!!)

My final favourite scene, is the one I cried the most at (no shame at all) and it was when they were on holiday and Lou sits on Wills lap and pours her heart out to him and he tells her that he still hasn't changed his mind about Switzerland. In this moment I felt both actors played this part incredibly, I could see Louisa's heart breaking on screen and the pain in Wills' voice as he calls after her. One thing I did miss from this scene however, was Louisa telling Will that she loved him and his reply being 'It's not enough' as when I read this part in the novel I literally burst into tears as it brought home just how much pain Will was in, and maybe that's the reason they cut this from the movie, I'm not quite sure.

Another couple of scenes I wished could have made it into the film were firstly the tattoo parlour as I adored this part within the novel and I think that it makes the fact that Emilia Clark has the tattoo in real life even more special! The other scene, well more of a plot line, I wished we could have explored was Louisa and the maze, as I feel that this was a really important part to understanding why Louisa was so content at living where she did and not wanting to move away.

There were also a couple of parts that they didn't put into the film that I didn't miss at all, and these were Will's fathers affair and Will's sister. Both of these I felt wouldn't have added anything to the film and would have made it far to clustered and bitty to squash into a 2 hour film.

So all together I cannot fault this movie adaptation and I can't wait to go and watch it again when I am home from Uni. I also plan to read the novel again as I am not yet ready to fully say goodbye to these characters yet! 

(All images not my own sourced from Google)

So

Until next time my lovelies,