The Lake House (2006)
Grade:B-
If you’ve seen the previews for The Lake House, you’ve already decided if the premise works for you or doesn’t. For those who haven’t seen the trailer, the premise is something like this: Kate Forster (Sandra Bullock) has decided to move back to the city of Chicago after living in a lake house close to the city. She leaves a letter for the next tenant, who turns out to be Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves), asking that he forward her mail.
Problem is, it appears that Alex lives in 2004 and Kate lives two years later in 2006. Will these two ever figure out a way to meet after their correspondence leads to true love? How are they managing to talk over a two-year gap? What does their dog have to with it all? More importantly, why should we care at all?
In short, the answers are yes, who cares?, not much, and because the film stars Bullock and Reeves, and because they have a surprising amount of chemistry given that they’re very rarely on-screen together. The Lake House ultimately works despite its ridiculous premise because these two actors are incredibly charismatic, and because the screenplay takes itself seriously. This is a world where the mailbox at the eponymous lake house happens to be a time-travel device. So what?
The screenplay is actually pretty competently written, again, considering the premise. The screenwriter is David Auburn, who wrote the play Proof, as well as the screenplay for the film adaptation, and he’s definitely got a knack for writing long spans of dialogue that sound natural yet reveal aspects of his characters. As it is revealed that these two actually met serendipitously at a party in 2004, there’s an extended take (perhaps upwards of five minutes with no cuts) of these two simply talking to each other. As more and more is revealed about these characters, peripheral characters come into the picture as well, including a boyfriend for Kate (played by Dylan Walsh) and a friend of hers (Shohreh Aghdashloo).
Sure, the premise isn’t devoid of any holes. There is, of course, the whole time-travel thing that I was fine with, but that I’m aware other audience members will not be OK with. Like I said, based on the trailer, the premise either works for you or doesn’t. There’s a plot twist that I knew going in which perhaps dampened the effect of its reveal, but it’s not exactly subtley hinted at in the early stages of the film.
There’s also the ending where Kate and Alex find a way to meet each other. It’s terribly confusing, though. I saw this with a friend of mine and she had to explain it to me once we were out of the theater. Ultimately, I guess you just have to ask yourself if you would wait around four years to be with Sandra Bullock or with Keanu Reeves, depending on who you’re more inclined to like. If the answer is yes, I suppose the film will work. The Lake House isn’t perfect, but it’s far from terrible. A good DVD rental, yes, but not necessarily worth the price of admission these days.
Bottom Line:
Ultimately, I guess you just have to ask yourself if you would wait around four years to be with Sandra Bullock or with Keanu Reeves, depending on who you’re more inclined to like. If the answer is yes, I suppose the film will work for you. The two stars are incredibly charismatic, and their appeal is largely what makes The Lake House work despite its flaws.
© 2004-2009 Ben Waldorf. Posted June 20, 2006. IMDB