Book to Big Screen: Me Before You

According to my GoodReads account I finish reading Me Before You on June 20, 2014. I remember sitting in my bed sobbing. The book absolutely destroyed me and I loved every second of it. When Jojo Moyes announced it was being made into a movie I nearly lost it again and promptly made one of my girlfriends promise we'd go see it together. So last night we went to the theatre, reclined in our leather seats and I pulled out tissues for both of us. 

I think that often times readers end up disappointed with the book to screen version of their beloved novels. You can't please everyone when you adapt a book because everyone imagines scenes, characters, settings differently. (Sidenote: over the past year I've read some negative comments online about the Starz version of Outlander and I just want to pat the naysayers's hands and say, "Can't you just be happy with the fact that we're getting to see the characters on tv? How amazing is that?!" Grouchies gonna grouch, I guess.)

Let me say that I loved the movie version of Me Before You. I think the casting director did a fantastic job with Lou, Will, Patrick, Trina, Nathan, even Mr. & Mrs. Traynor! Emilia Clarke was Lou in every sense. And major kudos to the wardrobe department for nailing every single one of her outfits. And the shoes! What can I say about Sam Claflin besides the obvious that he's devastatingly handsome? One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Lou and Will meet and he utters this horrible animal noise just to be an ass and scare Lou. I had completely forgotten about it until he started and the look of discomfort on Emilia's face was perfect. I couldn't help but laugh. Because she plays such a strong character on GoT, I never knew she had such expressive eyebrows! (Is that a weird thing to say?) And then there's Neville Longbottom, (will Matthew Lewis ever not be known for his HP character?) who had such great facial expressions in Lou's birthday dinner scene that I was giggling. 

Obviously I cried, because duh, I cry at dog food commercials, but I honestly didn't cry as much as I thought I would and I think it's because I was just so thrilled to be seeing this beloved story play out onscreen. If you loved the book I really think you'll love the movie. It was just really beautifully done and definitely reminds you to live boldly.

Happy reading!

~Stephanie