I bet you were thinking today was going to be a good day with positive feelings and no need to just randomly burst out crying. And then here comes the first trailer forMe Before You, the anticipated adaptation ofJojo Moyes' hugely popular romance novel, to go and through a perfectly nice day all into tumult. The film starsEmilia Clarke, the mother of dragons herself, as a poppy, unemployed British woman who takes an unwanted job of taking care of a wealthy, wheelchair-bound man, played bySam ClaflinofThe Hunger Gamesfranchise. There’s some seriousNicholas Sparksvibes coming off of this sucker, but there’s the slightest hint that this film will be happy enough to be a bit more fun (and funny) than tripe likeThe NotebookorThe Vow. You can check out the trailer right below:
Admittedly, I haven’t read Moyes' novel but it’s certainly proven to be a hit in the same range as Sparks' books, and this has that whole doomed romance thing going on. Still, a good cast heals quite a lot of narrative wounds and aside from Clarke and Claflin, the film boasts a cast that includesDoctor Who’sJenna Coleman, the greatJanet McTeer, and Clarke’sGame of Thronesco-starCharles Dance. There’s alsoMatthew Lewis, known for his performance as Neville Longbottom in theHarry Pottermovies and his, er, noticeable Twitter account, as well asDownton AbbeyaxiomBrendan Coyle.
More important than this, however, is the fact that the film would be the feature-film debut ofThea Sharrock, the former prolific theatre director who has recently done some commendable work as a television director onCall the Midwifeand theHenry Vportion ofThe Hollow Crown. Sharrock will be working from a script by Moyes herself and the team ofScott NeustadterandMichael H. Weber, who pennedThe Fault in Our Stars(oh no!) andThe Spectacular Now(yay!). So, we’ve got a pretty classic 50-50 here, but there’s enough talent to at least give this inevitable tearjerker a chance.
