Me Without You is a movie is set in England about two girls who grow up together in the suburbs. One is a bright Jewish girl, Holly, whose mother constantly tells her that the world is full of girls who are either pretty or smart and she is the latter. Interestingly, this part is played by Michelle Williams who does a superb job with her voice and accent. The other girl, Marina, is from a family where her parents are in the middle of a divorce and the mother is rather free with her opinions and lifestyle with her two children – she has an older son as well. Holly has always had somewhat of a crush on Marina’s older brother, Nat. He always seems disinterested in either girl and remains on the periphery during their childhood.
The beginning of the movie is the late 70s and the clothes and music reflect each era as the movie travels through over 20 years in time. They experiment with all the wrong kinds of things but manage to muddle through and end up living together while attending college. The entire movie is about their relationship and their interactions with others around them. It is not always a healthy thing though. The director has captured the feeling of the time so well – the way we felt in the 80s and the way we dressed. We were supposed to be so emancipated and yet still had that empty feeling after a night out or worse yet waking up with someone you really didn’t care about. I liked this movie but I know that this was almost the time and place where I did grow up and I wonder if that was why. Some pretty extreme scenes including sex and drug usage were suitably gross but they certainly did not glorify it in the movie.