Will Traynor (Sam Claflin) is in bed with a sexy blonde when the film opens. He’s hunky, he’s fit, he wears a suit to work. He’s on his cell phone en route to the office, when he’s struck in the street by a scooter, rendering him paraplegic. It makes it all the more worse, because prior to the accident his hobbies included snowboarding, skiing, mountain biking and surfing. He was Mister Fit.
In another nearby home is Lou Clark (Emilia Clarke of Game of Thrones fame) lives with her humble family and a father (Brendan Coyle, the beloved butler on Downton Abbey.) When the father loses his job, and Lou loses hers – she worked at a coffee shop and makes a mean cup of tea – she ends up applying for a position at the local recruiting station to make ends meet.
Soon Lou Clark finds herself at the Traynor home, care-taking for the man who has little use of his legs or arms. He’s paralyzed from the neck down, and so are his dreams. He sits. He exists. He’s angry.
But she’s quirky and cute, and dresses out of a Betsy Johnson showroom, with dreams of someday being a fashion designer herself.
Based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Jo Jo Moyes, comes the film about Will Traynor who teaches the plucky Lou Clark some sophistication, while she teaches Traynor to lighten up. Of course we both know if he could walk, he’d barely give her a second look, but that issue is perfectly addressed in the film.
The movie is a slow roll of emotions, us growing with them every step of the way, in admiration and love. Through a bucket list, designed to make Will Traynor live, Lou is determined to ignite his spirit. They try the horse races, the symphony and other cultural events. For a blip of a moment the story turns Pretty Woman. The plain Lou even donning a red evening gown. But the spookiest part of the film is that Will Traynor looks like the handsome movie star, Christopher Reeve, who actually did die as a paraplegic from the accident of riding a horse.
The film is ultimately about falling in love with a hopeless situation. We’ve all been there, though we didn’t need a wheel chair to act as our romance’s handicap. But because of the misfit, we can all relate.
A sweet journey about impossible love (or is possible love) when love conquers love. Almost.