Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Me Before You Blu-ray Movie Review

Tough Love

Reviewed by Michael Reuben August 30, 2016

Me Before You is the screen adaptation of a bestselling novel with a fan base loyal enough to drive the $20 million film to a worldwide box office of almost $200 million. If you aren't familiar with the book, the ad campaign suggests a sentimental love story about pretty people facing challenges together. While those elements certainly exist in director Thea Sharrock's feature debut, there's more to it. As scripted by Jojo Moyes, who adapted her own book for the screen, Me Before You (or "MBY") coopts three-hankie cliches into what might be called a romantic coming-of-age tale. It's impossible to explain how without revealing certain elements of the plot; so skip the "Feature" discussion if you want to avoid spoilers.

In a rural English village, 26-year-old Louisa "Lou" Clark (Emilia Clarke) has provided essential financial support to her family since her father (Brendan Coyle) was laid off. Now, Lou too has been made redundant, because the tea shop where she serves customers is closing. In desperation, she applies for a job as a companion to Will Traynor (Sam Claflin, The Hunger Games), a 31-year-old quadriplegic and son of the wealthiest family in town. (How wealthy? They own the local castle.) Despite Lou's lack of experience and a clumsy interview, Will's severe mother (Janet McTeer) hires her, but as Lou will come to learn, Mrs. Traynor has an agenda that is not part of the job description.

Will was injured in a traffic accident, which ended both his flourishing career in London's financial industry and his vigorously athletic private life. Embittered and withdrawn, he initially resists Lou's indefatigable good cheer (not to mention her garish wardrobe, which is a running joke), but gradually warms to her presence. However, a shadow is cast over the budding relationship when Lou overhears an argument between Will's mother and father (Charles Dance). Only then does she learn that the man for whom she is developing feelings wishes to end his life at a Swiss center for assisted suicide and that her employment as a companion is part of Mrs. Traynor's campaign to change Will's mind. Initially appalled, Lou rallies to the cause and mounts a concerted effort to show Will just how much of life he can still enjoy with her help and support. Plotting out a course of adventures that include a trip to the races, a classical concert and a flight by chartered plane to a luxury resort on Mallorca, she incurs the jealousy of her long-term boyfriend, Patrick (Matthew Lewis), who slowly realizes that he is being supplanted in Lou's affections. Indeed, she is falling in love with her patient—but is that enough to change Will's mind?

MBY was criticized by disabilities activist groups for presenting assisted suicide as a viable option, but Moyes' script goes out of its way to showcase the many advantages and encouragements urging Will to soldier onward. He has devoted parents, massive financial resources, and, most recently, a warm and attractive woman whose love is his for the taking. In an angry moment, Lou accuses Will of being selfish, and perhaps he is, but as his sympathetic physical therapist (Stephen Peacocke) explains, Will dreams every night of the former life he adored, which makes awakening to his current reality a daily agony. Will and Lou are opposite personalities, with Lou accustomed to serving others' needs before hers (whether it's Will, her family or her self-absorbed boyfriend), whereas Will is used to living on his own terms. The collision of these opposing temperaments alters the trajectory of both, but they remain on separate courses.

Emilia Clarke says in the Blu-ray extras that the character of Lou, with her clumsiness and insecurities, is much closer to her own personality than the tough heroines for which she's best known (notably, Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones and Sarah Connor in Terminator: Genisys). Whatever the reason, she makes Lou an endearing presence, even (or maybe especially) when she makes mistakes. Sam Claflin adroitly navigates the transition from the stonily hostile recluse who first greets Lou to the caring figure who returns her love, just not in the way she wants. Veteran performers McTeer and Dance use their limited screen time effectively to convey the full force of the parental anguish concealed beneath the Traynors' upper class reserve.

Me Before You Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Me Before You was shot on Alexa by Remi Adefarasin (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies). Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray exhibits the usual virtues of digital capture, with superior detail, solid blacks and an absence of noise, distortion or interference. For most of the film, the palette favors earthtones to bring out the English countryside, although many of the interiors in the Traynor home shade toward cooler hues, especially in the early portions, both to suggest Will's emotional distance and to help accentuate the bold, bright colors of Lou's flashy wardrobe. The trip to Mallorca supplies yet a further contrast, with its inviting blue seas and cheerful bright sun. Warner has mastered MBY with an average bitrate of 27.88 Mbps and a solid encode.

Me Before You Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

MBY's 5.1 soundtrack, encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA, is primarily front-oriented and dialogue-driven, but the surrounds provide a nice sense of environmental ambiance, and there's an occasional scene (e.g., a Mediterranean thunderstorm) where the full speaker array comes alive. A classical concert in a vaulted medieval stone hall captures the delicate sound of the orchestra, and a brisk wind sweeps across the Traynor estate. Dialogue is always clearly rendered. The emotional score is credited to Craig Armstrong (Love Actually).

Me Before You Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Me Before You: From Page to Screen (1080p; 1.78:1; 5:40): This brief EPK focuses on the effort to translate Moyes' lengthy novel to film. Moyes is interviewed, along with director Sharrock and actors Clarke, Claflin and McTeer.



• Outtakes (1080p; 2.35:1; 2:15): Given the film's subject matter, a gag reel seems to be an odd choice for an extra, but here it is.



• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 2.35:1; 6:11): The eight scenes are not separately listed or selectable. None of them adds significant plot information.



• Trailers: The film's trailer is not included. At startup the disc plays trailers for The Legend of Tarzan and Storks, plus the usual Warner promo for digital copies.

Me Before You Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

MBY may not be everyone's idea of a good time at the movies, but it's handsomely mounted, impeccably performed and provocative without resorting to easy answers or comforting sentimentality. Warner's Blu-ray is light on extras but a fine presentation of the film and is, therefore, recommended.