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"The Lake House" tells the story of a romance that spans years but involves only a few kisses. It succeeds despite being based on two paradoxes: time travel, and the ability of two people to have conversations that are, under the terms established by the film, impossible. Neither one of these problems bothered me in the slightest. Take time travel: I used to get distracted by its logical flaws and contradictory time lines. Now in my wisdom I have decided to simply accept it as a premise, no questions asked. A time travel story works on emotional, not temporal, logic.
In "The Lake House," it works like this. A woman ( Sandra Bullock ) lives in a glass house built on stilts over a lake north of Chicago. She is moving out and leaves a note for the next tenant ( Keanu Reeves ). He reads the note and sends a strange response to the address she supplies: He thinks she has the wrong house, because "no one has lived in this house for years." She writes back to disagree. It develops that he thinks it is 2004 and she thinks it is 2006, and perhaps she moved in after he left, instead of moving out before he arrived, although that wouldn't fit with -- but never mind.
This correspondence continues. They both leave their letters in the mailbox beside the sidewalk that leads to the bridge that leads to the glass house. The mailbox eventually gets into the act by raising and lowering its own little red flag. The two people come to love each other, and this process involves the movie's second impossibility. We hear them having voice-over conversations that are ostensibly based on the words in their letters, but unless these letters are one sentence long and are exchanged instantaneously (which would mean crossing time travel crossed with chat rooms), they could not possibly be conversational.
Never mind. They also have the same dog. Never mind, I tell you, never mind! I think, actually, that I have the answer to how the same dog could belong to two people separated by two years, but if I told you, I would have to shoot the dog. The key element in "The Lake House" that gives it more than a rueful sense of loss is that although Alex's letters originate in 2004 and Kate's in 2006, he is after all still alive in 2006, and what is more, she after all was alive in 2004. Is there a way for them to send letters across the gap that will allow them to meet where she was in 2004, or she where will be in 2006, or vice-versa? It is, although it involves many paradoxes, including the one that in 2004 all of this is ahead of both of them, and in 2006 Alex knows everything but Kate either knows nothing, or knows it too late to act on it. None of this prevents her letter of romantic anguish: That was you that I met!
Enough of the plot and its paradoxes. What I respond to in the movie is its fundamental romantic impulse. It makes us hope these two people will somehow meet. All during the movie, we're trying to do the math: It should be possible, given enough ingenuity, for them to eventually spend 2007 together, especially since he can theoretically keep the letters he received from her in 2004 and ask her out on a date and show them to her, although by then she'd know she wrote them -- or would she?
They do arrange one date, which involves them in some kind of time-loop misunderstanding, I think. She later understands what happened, but I don't think I do. I mean, I understand the event she refers to, but not whether it is a necessary event or can be prevented.
A great deal depends on the personalities involved. Sandra Bullock is an enormously likable actor in the right role, and so is Keanu Reeves, although here they're both required to be marginally depressed because of events in their current (but not simultaneous) lives. Many of his problems circle around his father, Louis Wyler ( Christopher Plummer ), a famous Chicago architect. The old man is an egocentric genius who designed the Lake House, which his son dislikes because, like Louis himself, it lives in isolation; there aren't even any stairs to get down to the water.
Alex is an architect himself, currently debasing himself with suburban condos, and Kate is a doctor whose confidante is an older mentor at the hospital ( Shoreh Aghdashloo ). Alex has a confidant, too, his brother Henry ( Ebon Moss-Bachrach ). A plot like this makes confidants more or less obligatory, since the protagonists have so little opportunity to confide in each other, except for their mysterious ability to transform a written correspondence into a conversation. Now about that dog: Dogs live outside of time, don't you think?
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.
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The Lake House (2006)
Keanu Reeves as Alex Wyler
Sandra Bullock as Kate Forster
Shoreh Aghdashloo as Kate's friend
Christopher Plummer as Louis Wyler
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Henry Wyler
Directed by
- Alejandro Agresti
- David Auburn
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Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock Are Reunited in 'The Lake House'
By A.O. Scott
- June 16, 2006
"The Lake House," a wondrously illogical time-travel romance directed by Alejandro Agresti, is notable mainly for reuniting Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, who together survived a harrowing bus ride in "Speed." That was 12 years ago — how time flies! — and since then they have gone their separate movie-star ways, into the "Miss Congeniality" and "Matrix" franchises, as well as into a startlingly long list of bad movies, of which I will mention only "Hope Floats" and "Sweet November."
But these two stars have a habit of being more appealing than their material. This is not just a matter of excellent facial bone structure, but also of a sly ability to play simultaneously in and against type. Because Ms. Bullock and Mr. Reeves have become such familiar screen presences, their performances turn out, more often than not, to be genuinely surprising. Ms. Bullock likes to be difficult, to temper her radiance with grouchiness, while Mr. Reeves, when the mood strikes, can inflect his mild, baffled affect with meanness, moodiness and even a hint of thorny intelligence.
So while the general public has not, as far as I can tell, been clamoring for a reunion, "The Lake House" nonetheless functions as a fascinating experiment. Is the chemistry — or, given that "Speed" was all about the velocity of bodies in motion, the physics — still there? It is, although in this case the viewer will also have to grapple with a heavy dose of Hollywood metaphysics, which keeps the leads apart for most of the movie.
At the start, Ms. Bullock's character, Kate, a stressed-out physician who has just completed her residency, moves out of the architectural curiosity that gives the picture its title, leaving a note in the mailbox for the next tenant. That would be Mr. Reeves's Alex, a soulful real estate developer who turns out actually to be the previous tenant. Some unexplained wrinkle in the space-time continuum — or a serious glitch at the postal service — has made it possible for Kate, in 2006, to correspond with Alex, who is still making his way through 2004.
"Not much has changed," Kate writes to him at one point, when he asks what things are like in the future. His general lack of curiosity — he doesn't ask who won the presidential election or the World Series, or pester her for stock market tips — is in keeping with the fuzziness of the film's conceit. If you approach it with a rational, skeptical mind, "The Lake House" will fall apart almost immediately. But where is the fun in that? You'll just have to accept that a book can travel through the mail to a date earlier than the one printed on its copyright page, and that a fancy Chicago restaurant will hold an unconfirmed reservation for two years.
"The Lake House," while completely preposterous, is not without charm. Both Kate and Alex drive well-preserved old cars — hers is a copper-colored Mustang that appears to be of late-60's vintage, while his pickup truck looks even older — and the movie they inhabit, based on a Korean film called "Il Mare," is an unapologetic throwback to a classic studio genre, the melodrama of impossible love. The social obstacles that used to exist — in the real world and, more intensely, in Production Code-governed Hollywood — have lost their forbidding power, which may be why supernatural and science fiction touches are required to keep the idea of romantic longing alive.
Kate and Alex, by means of handwritten letters placed in that mailbox (and read in back-and-forth voice- over to simulate real-time conversations), fall deeply and achingly in love. There is some competition for their affection. Alex is coolly, almost sadistically indifferent to a co-worker (Lynn Collins) who all but throws herself at his feet, while Kate has recently broken up with a perfectly decent but manifestly inadequate fiancé (Dylan Walsh), who keeps showing up no matter what year it is. She also has a gentle mother (Willeke van Ammelrooy) and a wise boss (Shohreh Aghdashloo), who serve as confidantes, while Alex is burdened with an imperious, narcissistic father (Christopher Plummer), a famous architect who designed that strange, impractical house by the lake.
The contrivances of the plot, which may require occasional glances at a multiyear date book, are smoothly handled by David Auburn's script and by Mr. Agresti's direction. Visually, "The Lake House" is elegant without being terribly showy, with a connoisseur's eye for Chicago's architectural glories. But the movie is, above all, a showcase for its stars, who seem gratifyingly comfortable in their own skin and delighted to be in each other's company again, in another deeply silly, effortlessly entertaining movie.
"The Lake House" is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). It has occasional dark moods and sad moments, but no bad language or sex.
The Lake House
Opens today nationwide.
Directed by Alejandro Agresti; written by David Auburn, based on the motion picture "Il Mare," produced by Sidus; director of photography, Alar Kivilo; edited by Lynzee Klingman and Alejandro Brodersohn; music by Rachel Portman; production designer, Nathan Crowley; produced by Doug Davison and Roy Lee; released by Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 108 minutes.
WITH: Keanu Reeves (Alex Wyler), Sandra Bullock (Dr. Kate Forster), Dylan Walsh (Morgan), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Dr. Anna Klyczynski), Willeke van Ammelrooy (Kate's Mother) and Christopher Plummer (Simon Wyler).
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The lake house, common sense media reviewers.
Corny romance will bore kids.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
Characters in love are loyal, characters looking f
A bus hits a car and leaves a pedestrian dead; whe
"Long-distance" romance is mostly chaste (they liv
Several uses of "hell," one each of s-word, "For C
Characters drink wine and beer a couple of times,
Parents need to know that the movie includes some sad spots where the wannabe romantic partners can't meet for years, only exchange letters. A young man fights with his father, then the father dies, which makes the son cry. A bus accident kills a pedestrian (you hear crash and see prone body afterwards) and upsets a…
Positive Messages
Characters in love are loyal, characters looking for love sometimes hurt others, and a father-son relationship is tense (mutual anger).
Violence & Scariness
A bus hits a car and leaves a pedestrian dead; when Kate tries to help, she's sad when the victim dies.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
Sex, Romance & Nudity
"Long-distance" romance is mostly chaste (they live two years apart), but grants them two passionate kisses; Kate wears a nightie that shows cleavage.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.
Several uses of "hell," one each of s-word, "For Christ's sake," "godamnit."
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.
Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
Characters drink wine and beer a couple of times, liquor and champagne in social/party settings.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that the movie includes some sad spots where the wannabe romantic partners can't meet for years, only exchange letters. A young man fights with his father, then the father dies, which makes the son cry. A bus accident kills a pedestrian (you hear crash and see prone body afterwards) and upsets a female doctor who's on the scene. Characters drink in bars and at parties. A woman kisses a man who's not her fiancé, who's upset when he catches them. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .
Where to Watch
Videos and photos.
Community Reviews
- Parents say (7)
- Kids say (4)
Based on 7 parent reviews
Great movie
Great fantasy love story, what's the story.
At the start of this romance film, Kate ( Sandra Bullock ) and Alex ( Keanu Reeves ) exchange letters via a magic mailbox at the titular Chicago area lake house. He has just moved into the house, and she has just moved out. The rub is, he's living in 2004 and she's in 2006. As Kate and Alex fall in love, they also realize they are living in different years. They accept this oddity and begin to plot ways to find one another across time. When Alex tracks Kate down in 2004, before she knows he exists, Kate is engaged to an over-controlling man and wishing she knew someone more like Alex. Kate tells him she loves Jane Austen's Persuasion (a book about waiting), they look deeply into one another's eyes and share a camera-swirling kiss. And then: pffft. Though he knows who she is, Alex doesn't pursue Kate, leaving her to be unhappily engaged, as he is unhappy with himself. Here the structure of the film changes from their pensive voice-over letter writing into conversation as they go about their separate, split-screened lives.
Is It Any Good?
Evocative and sometimes lovely, THE LAKE HOUSE is all about waiting. While this refers to the central couple, it also affects viewers, who must wait for alternately obvious and illogical plot points to be resolved. Occasionally rewarding, this slow movement is sometimes annoying, and the switch from letter-writing-voice-over to conversation-and-split-screen is simply awkward.
Perhaps most disappointing is the movie's feeble use of the wondrous Shohreh Aghdashloo ( X-Men:The Last Stand ) as Anna, Kate's supervisor. When Anna observes that this mystery man "must write one hell of a letter" to warrant so much mooning, the movie briefly exposes its sense of humor. But his letters ("I'll find a way to be close to you, to take care of you") sound more like a Lifetime movie than Jane Austen.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the idea of falling in love through letters (or online!): what sorts of things do you learn about someone else through writing that you often don't learn face to face? What traits make Kate and Alex appealing to one another, even though they haven't seen each other? How can waiting and patience make relationships, whether romantic or familial, seem more worthwhile?
Movie Details
- In theaters : June 16, 2006
- On DVD or streaming : September 26, 2006
- Cast : Christopher Plummer , Keanu Reeves , Sandra Bullock
- Director : Alejandro Agresti
- Inclusion Information : Latino directors, Asian actors, Polynesian/Pacific Islander actors, Female actors
- Studio : Warner Bros.
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : Magic and Fantasy
- Run time : 888 minutes
- MPAA rating : PG
- MPAA explanation : some language and a disturbing image
- Last updated : September 15, 2023
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The Lake House Ending, Explained
Alejandro Agresti directed the romantic fantasy movie ‘The Lake House.’ The story, an adaptation of the South Korean film ‘Siworae,’ follows lonesome medical practitioner Kate ( Sandra Bullock ). When her attempts at saving a hit-and-run victim on Valentine’s Day 2006 fails, Kate lets the viewers know how she has inherited the titular lake house that she does not inhabit.
However, as the lake house, and especially its adjacent mailbox, stay in a temporal flux, Kate establishes communication with the mysterious Alex ( Keanu Reeves ), who claims to live two years in the past. When the timelines mingle, the melancholic story spirals out of control. If you can not quite put your finger around the finale, let us be of assistance. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Lake House Plot Synopsis
In the early sequence, Kate wakes up in the lake house when it’s autumn. During winter, Alex, the son of the house’s original owner, reaches there and reads Kate’s letter. Kate does not live in the house since she does not think that a cottage should be more than 6000 square feet in area. Thus, she seeks to change the address to her present residence in Chicago. While the letter is not meant for Alex, he reads it and writes an impeccable reply. Meanwhile, while lazing in a park on Valentine’s Day, Kate sees a hit-and-run incident.
Kate calls emergency services and attempts to save the guy, but he seemingly dies. On the other hand, Kate asks Alex to meet at her place, but the location takes Alex to a construction site. He plants a tree in front of it, which has grown quite a bit in Kate’s timeline. With the revelation that the mailbox acts as a time machine, Kate’s epistolary time warp romance with Alex reaches an equilibrium, and they long to meet each other.
In 2004, Alex runs a construction business after Simon, his father and a great architect. He has a girlfriend in Mona. On the other hand, Kate is in an on-off relationship with Morgan. While leaving for Madison on a train, Kate catches a glimpse of Alex, who runs by the train to give Kate back her copy of Jane Austen’s ‘Persuasion.’ Disheartened that she does not know her admirer yet, Kate fixes a date with Alex on July 10, 2006, at 9.05 pm. Although Alex does not call her at the moment, Kate meets Alex and Mona at her birthday party later. Alex and Kate cannot speak much, as they feel the burden of the future. While they try to hold on to the present, time flows between them.
The Lake House Ending: Is Alex Dead or Alive?
When Kate decides to renovate the loft apartment, she takes Morgan to Visionary Vanguard Associates, the company of Alex’s family. Alex’s brother Henry Wyler greets the duo, but Kate is curious about a photo hanging on the meeting room wall. The image showcases the renovation plan of the lake house that Alex devised early in the movie, which he showed to Kate to earn her approval. When Kate enquires about the photo artist, Henry divulges that Alex died on February 14, 2006. Kate herself also knows the truth — that Alex is a figment of her imagination.
As Kate tells Alex earlier in the story, he died in the accident, while she created a story around him to cope with the trauma. However, this reading would be natural if not for the final moments, where Alex seems to be quite alive as he hugs and kisses Kate. Thanks to the premonition of Alex’s death, Kate forbids him to cross the road at the park in a letter she writes for him. Voila, Alex does not cross the road, and he remains alive at the end. He meets Kate, and we get a happy ending. While a happy ending is what the creative heads aimed for the story, they did not tie all the loose ends.
If Kate does not speak to Alex before the February 2006 accident, how can she prevent Alex’s fatality? Therefore, in all probability, Alex has been dead since the beginning of the story. Seemingly, Alex and Kate meet sometime between 2004 and 2006, on the eve of Kate’s birthday. After catching Kate kissing Alex, Kate’s committal relationship with Morgan goes through some trouble. Then, Kate discovers that the person who dies on the streets on February 14, 2006, is the same person who kissed him at the party. After the discovery, Kate’s mind spirals, and she starts living in unfinished fantasies of the past.
Do Kate and Alex End Up Together?
No, Kate and Alex do not end up together, even if the final minutes suggest the contrary. While Kate desperately looks for a reply in the mailbox, she finds nothing, breaking into tears. Shortly after, Alex walks through the woods, and the lovers embrace for a picture-perfect ending. However, Alex can’t be alive at the time because he dies on the morning of Valentine’s Day, 2006. Therefore, one can say that they do not end up together. However, Alex leaves several objects and memories in Kate’s life. For instance, Kate finds her lost copy of Jane Austen’s ‘Persuasion’ on the wooden floor of the lake house.
Moreover, Kate gets Alex’s pet dog, Jack. Till the end, Jack stays with Alex. Thirdly, Kate unwittingly visits the real estate company Visionary Vanguard Associates, which Alex’s brother runs. Above all, some cosmic force ties them together as they kiss on the night of Kate’s birthday, even as Mona and Morgan, their respective partners, are with them. All the signs indicate that they are meant to be together, as both play crucial roles in each other’s life. Therefore, the encounter with Alex at the party helps create the story in Kate’s mind. This thought may bring you to the following question.
Is Kate Imaginging/Dreaming of Alex In The End?
Kate may be imagining Alex at the end. It is at least more feasible than the other, straightforward suggestion. Movies like ‘ The Butterfly Effect ‘ and ‘ Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ‘ tell us that there is nothing straightforward about time warp movies, and this one is no different. Kate may be dreaming in the final moments and even for most of the story. Towards the end of the story, Kate attempts to escape the illusion when she tells Alex how she thought him up. You may remember how after grabbing food with her mother at Daley Plaza, Kate experienced a nasty accident.
She was already quite lonesome, and she thought that was not how Valentine’s Day should have ended. Therefore, more than Alex’s physical presence, her belief in romance propels the story forward. The idea leads her to the mailbox, which becomes a point in her habitual fantasizing. Gradually, Kate lost herself in the fantasy where time stood still. However, as she stresses towards the end of the confession, Kate has learned to live the life she has got (and not think about what she is missing out on). Kate tries to forget Alex, but discovering the copy of ‘Persuasion’ brings back Alex’s memory, and her mind starts spiraling again. In that way, the movie pays homage to the timeless Jane Austen novel.
In Which Year Does The Movie End?
The movie possibly ends in 2008, as Henry lets Kate know that Alex died “two years ago today.” While oscillating between the past and future, the film reflects upon the timelessness of the present. Therefore, more than confusing the audience to figure out the nooks and crannies of the timeline, the film encourages us to remain in the present.
However, as the protagonists inhabit different timelines (which may as well indicate their respective states of mind — while Alex lives in the past of his memories, Kate lives in the future of her aspirations), the present seems challenging to grasp. In other words, Kate’s past is Alex’s future, as it is a timeless present for the audience. Curiously, in the end, it is Kate who seems to be living in the past, holding on to the memories of Alex.
Read More: Where Was The Lake House Filmed?
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The Lake House Reviews
Supposedly letter-bound, the couple's conversations come across more like instant messaging, while Kate's lack of investigative skills or inquisitiveness will appal even the most half-hearted of romantic stalkers.
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 19, 2022
What's depressing is what Hollywood does to perfectly good foreign originals. And Il Mare is no exception.
Full Review | Feb 28, 2020
The film is hugely boring. [Full Review in Spanish]
Full Review | Feb 12, 2020
A little mystery. A little love. Heartache, heart-wrench, sentimentality and romanticism. It will touch your heart.
Full Review | Nov 13, 2019
A satisfyingly sarcasm-free ode to the flickering absurdity of romance
Full Review | Aug 30, 2009
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 7, 2008
Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 14, 2007
I can't believe that even the most rabid chick-flick masochists wouldn't gag on it.
Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Nov 24, 2006
Maybe I'm just overly romantic or sentimental or just plain naive, but I probably liked The Lake House more than I should have.
Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Sep 27, 2006
Time-travel films often bring up a lot of questions, and they often fall apart with thoughtful scrutiny, but that's part of the fun. However, one shouldn't be wondering that the only benefit these two have with this magical mailbox connection is that they
Full Review | Original Score: D- | Aug 23, 2006
A little under water, but it still floats.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 21, 2006
Endless implausibility, cheesy dialogue, and the inert personalities of its charisma-zapped leads conspire to doom this chilly magical mailbox love sham. Nice soundtrack, though.
Full Review | Original Score: D+ | Aug 14, 2006
Like all good romantic movies there's a beautiful house on the lake and a cuddly dog. Good dialogue, great direction, sweet cinematography and good acting -- even by Keanu.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 2, 2006
Phantom mail ... a postal carrier's worst nightmare ...
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 27, 2006
An intriguing idea. Too bad the asteroid sized temporal paradox ruins the end of the flm.
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 25, 2006
Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock bring their respective talents to this badly fumbled attempt at a supernatural romantic comedy.
Full Review | Jul 20, 2006
It refreshingly becomes less about time travel and more about the choices we make and the chances we miss.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 11, 2006
Reeves y Bullock no interpretan el papel de su vida, sin embargo cumplen con las expectativas del público en un producto ligero de fin de semana.
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jul 10, 2006
Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, two actors with talent I admire, launched their careers (at least as movie stars) on a runaway bus (Speed) in 1994. They appear to be throwing themselves under one here.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 10, 2006
Agresti has effectively skirted around hard logic with his velvety presentation.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 6, 2006
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The Lake House Parent Guide
Can they cross time's divide to meet in person.
After architect Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves) moves into The Lake House, he finds a note from the previous tenant, curiously dated 2006. Writing to Dr. Kate Forster (Sandra Bullock), he carefully explains it is only 2004. At first she thinks he's joking--but eventually she realizes that somehow the mailbox is enabling her to communicate with someone in another time.
Release date June 15, 2006
Run Time: 99 minutes
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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by rod gustafson.
After architect Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves) moves into an unusual house, which was designed by his father (Christopher Pummer), he finds a memo from the previous tenant in the mailbox. Curiously, it’s dated 2006, even though Alex is unpacking his boxes in 2004. When he corrects the author of the note, he is snidely accused of being confused.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the script, Dr. Kate Forster (Sandra Bullock) is in the process of moving out of the same glass-walled home on the lake. Discovering a letter in the mailbox dated two years earlier, she becomes convinced someone is playing a prank on her. But when the correspondence with the man from the past begins happening as quickly as she can place the paper into the box and put up the delivery flag, she begins to believe the impossible is really happening: Somehow, she is communicating with someone in another time.
A stroll through these quiet elements may not encourage many teens to race over to The Lake House , which is unfortunate because this rare love story focuses on the emotional qualities of a relationship as opposed to the physical . Other than an implied live-in relationship involving an unmarried couple and a few kisses, there is no sexual content in this film. Innuendo is absent as well, and language is limited to a handful of mild profanities, a scatological expletive and a few terms of deity. We do witness some moments of trauma at the hospital where Dr. Forster works and a pedestrian roadway accident (a body lying on a street is briefly shown), but none of these events include blood or are explicit in any detail. There are however, frequent scenes involving social drinking of alcohol in bars and at homes.
As we observe Kate and Alex getting to know each by sharing their deepest feelings about love, work, and life, the film reminds the viewer of the lost art of taking the time to know and understand another individual. Besides this valuable message, there’s a good chance you’ll also leave the theater recognizing how the seemingly smallest actions may instead be the most profound turning points. With these attributes, this subtly-crafted PG-rated title is one both parents and teens can enjoy.
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Rod Gustafson
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The Lake House Rating & Content Info
Why is The Lake House rated PG? The Lake House is rated PG by the MPAA for some language and a disturbing image
Adults and teens looking for a little cinematic romance without sexual content will likely be pleased with this PG-rated love story. An unmarried couple that appears to be living together, a short scene with a woman in a cleavage-revealing top, and a few kisses are the only elements contributing to sexual content. Language is also tame, with a few mild profanities, a scatological expletive and terms of deity. A pedestrian is killed after being struck by a bus (we see the body after the incident) and a couple of traumatic moments in a hospital are included. Perhaps the most concerning content issue are the many scenes of social drinking in bars and homes, however no one appears intoxicated.
Page last updated February 8, 2019
The Lake House Parents' Guide
You may want to try writing a “time warp” letter. Pretend you are writing to yourself at a point in time in the past. What advice and warnings about upcoming events would you provide? Now, try the opposite. Write yourself a letter for a future date, and then put it in an envelope and tuck it away until the time indicated on the letter.
Loved this movie? Try these books…
M J Putney’s Dark Mirror is a traditional time travel story where a girl with magical powers from the Napoleonic era winds up in a small English village during World War II.
A love story for older readers, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger tells the story of a man with a genetic disorder that randomly pushes him through time. His wife has to cope with his unpredictable absences and her fears of the dangers he faces.
Curious about the physics of time? Famed physicist Stephen Hawking wrote A Brief History of Time to help non-scientists understand how time works.
Older kids and teens with an interest in time will enjoy Madeleine L’Engle’s sci-fi fantasy novels. A Wrinkle in Time begins her series with the story of Meg Murry, a girl who must find her missing father and understand tesseracts - which serve as portals through space and time.
The most recent home video release of The Lake House movie is September 25, 2006. Here are some details…
The tranquil love story, The Lake House , ripples into the home entertainment marketplace with this DVD release. Offered in either full or wide screen editions, the disc features Dolby Surround 5.1 audio tracks in English, French and Spanish, with subtitles in English, French and Spanish.
Related home video titles:
Time gets involved in the maters of the heart in the romantic movies Kate and Leopold and Somewhere In Time .
Related news about The Lake House
The Sound of Music Stars Celebrate Long Careers in the Movie Business
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Produced by, the lake house (2006), directed by alejandro agresti / dylan walsh / keanu reeves / sandra bullock.
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The Lake House
Details: 2006, USA, Cert PG, 98 mins
Direction: Alejandro Agresti
Genre: Drama / Romance
Summary: A lonely doctor and an architect fall in love, despite living in parallel time frames, two years apart.
With: Christopher Plummer , Dylan Walsh , Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw: Fantasy time-slip romance.
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Mark Kermode: Bullock's latest exercise in on-screen hari-kiri is The Lake House, a time-travelling love story in which she co-stars with Keanu Reeves, who plays a talented but troubled architect.
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The Lake House
- A lonely doctor who once occupied an unusual lakeside house begins to exchange love letters with its former resident, a frustrated architect. They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.
- When two people "connect," the bond between them can be so pure and simple as to stir hearts in heaven. When they connect in all the right places at all the wrong times, heaven weeps for broken hearts. To heal these broken hearts, heaven breaks time. — Blithe Spiritus
- Kate Forster is moving out of her all-glass lake house. She is a doctor and has just begun to work in a hospital in Chicago, so she is moving to a new flat in the center of the city. Alex Wyler is the new owner of the lake house, a young architect who's working on the construction of a new housing complex on the outskirts of the city. Alex and Kate maintain a correspondence, talking about house matters, sending each other letters, which are put in the lake house's letterbox. But a strange thing is happening: they both find out that the letterbox is a kind of time communication channel between the year 2004, in which Alex lives, and the year 2005, in which Kate lives. After sending each other many letters talking about their lives, and Kate talking to Alex about how life will be in two years, it seems like they're falling in love with each other, but they might never meet because of the time distance. Nevertheless, Kate remembers that in 2004 she forgot a book (Jane Austen's "Persuasion") in a train station, and she asks Alex to go to that place in that precise moment. Maybe her future will change when Alex decides to meet Kate's other self in the past, although she has a boyfriend. They will learn that playing with time could be dangerous for both of them, but Alex will take everything into his hands to finally meet Kate in the future. — Alejandro Frias
- In Chicago, lonely architect Alex Wyler has a troubled relationship with his father Simon Wyler. In 2004, he buys an old glass house by a lake, designed and built by his father, and finds a message in his mailbox from the former tenant, the also-lonely Dr. Kate Forster, asking to the new resident deliver her correspondence to an address downtown. Alex meets his brother Henry in Chicago and when they go to the address with Dr. Forster's correspondence, they find a building of luxury apartments under construction to be delivered 18 months later. After exchanging some messages, Alex and Kate discover that she is living in 2006 and Alex in 2004. They fall in love with each other and try to figure out how to meet in person. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Dr. Kate Forster, who works in a Chicago hospital, has had issues with relating to people on a deeply-emotional level. Alex Wyler is a social developer and architect. At different times they both lived in the same lakeside glass house built by Alex's father. The two begin a correspondence by pure chance when Kate leaves a note in the lake house's letterbox asking the new tenant to forward her mail to her new address in the city. Alex gets this message--two years prior when he himself lived in the lake house. When the two discover that they are indeed corresponding through the time-warped mailbox, they learn more about each other. They manage to spend time together through common experiences two years apart. The more they correspond, the deeper the bond between the two gets, and they end up falling in love. Kate has the benefit of being able to tell Alex of what happens in the future. Alex has the benefit of being able to experience things that Kate has experienced in the past. He even has a chance to meet her before she knew him. Kate devises a plan to meet in her present/Alex's future so that they can spend their life together at the same time. However much can happen to Alex between his present and Kate's present, two years in his future. — Huggo
- In 2006, Dr. Kate Forster (Sandra Bullock) is leaving a lake house that she has been renting in Chicago. Kate leaves a note in the mailbox for the next tenant to forward her mail, adding that the paint-embedded paw-prints on the path leading to the house were already there when she arrived. Two years earlier in 2004, Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves), an architect, arrives at the lake house and finds Kate's letter in the mailbox. The house is neglected, with no sign of paw prints anywhere. During the subsequent restoration of the house, a dog runs through Alex's paint and leaves fresh paw prints right where Kate said they would be. Baffled, Alex writes back, asking how Kate knew about the paw prints since the house was unoccupied until he arrived. On Valentine's Day 2006, Kate witnesses a traffic accident near Daley Plaza and tries to save the male victim, unsuccessfully. She impulsively drives back to the lake house, finds Alex's letter and writes back. Alex is estranged from his father Simon J. Wyler (Christopher Plummer), who runs a large architecture firm, but stays in touch with his brother Henry. The lake House was built by Simon and Alex has purchased it, so that he can relive the memories of his childhood. Simon had built the lake house with his own hands, before he was a big shot and was still in love with his wife Mary (the house was a gift to her). But as Simon became more successful, he also became more difficult to live with, until Mary ditched him. She got sick and died within a year, but Simon didn't attend her funeral. Alex visits the address given by Kate but finds no building there (it is still under construction in 2004). Both Alex and Kate continue passing messages to each other via the mailbox, and each watches its flag go up and down as the message leaves and the reply arrives as they wait at the mailbox. They cautiously look around each time the flag changes, hoping to somehow spot the other. It is in vain as they are alone at the mailbox. They then discover that they are living exactly two years apart. Their correspondence takes them through several events, including Alex finding a book, Jane Austen's Persuasion, at a railway station where Kate said she would have lost it, and Alex taking Kate on a walking tour of his favorite places in Chicago via an annotated map that he leaves in the mailbox. In 2004, Kate was dating Morgan Price (Dylan Walsh), who had come to town to meet her. Alex's dog (in 2004) Jake runs to Kate's house and Alex chases him. Thats how Alex meets Morgan and tells him how he lives on the house on the lake. Morgan says that he wants to rent the house for Kate. Morgan invites Alex for his party. Alex eventually meets Kate at her boyfriend's party; however, he doesn't mention their exchange of letters because it had not happened to Kate yet. Kate later remembered the meeting as a vague memory in the past. They shared a dance (& a kiss) and talked about Kate's favorite book "Persuasion", which is about true love having to wait for the right time before the lovers could unite. As Alex and Kate continue to write to each other, they decide to try to meet again. Alex makes a reservation at the Il Mare restaurant - two years into Alex's future, but only a day away for Kate. Kate goes to the restaurant, but Alex fails to show. Heartbroken, Kate asks Alex not to write to her again, recounting the accident a year before. Both Alex and Kate leave the lake house, continuing on with their separate lives. Kate gets back together with Morgan; Alex vacates the lake house and rents it out to Morgan and Kate starts living there. On Valentine's Day 2006 for Alex, Valentine's Day 2008 for Kate, he returns to the lake house after something about the day triggers a memory. Meanwhile, Kate goes to an architect to review the renovation plans for a house that she now wants to buy. A drawing of the lake house on the conference room wall catches her attention and upon asking, Henry Wyler (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) informs her the artist was his brother, Alex, and Kate realizes that this was the same Alex with whom she had been corresponding. She also learns that Alex was killed in a traffic accident exactly two years ago to the day and realizes why he never showed up for their date - he was the man who died in Daley Plaza. Rushing to the lake house, Kate frantically writes a letter telling Alex she loves him but begs him not to try to find her if he loves her back. Wait two years, she says, and come to the lake house instead. Meanwhile, in 2006, Alex has gone to Daley Plaza to look for Kate. At the lake house, Kate drops to her knees sobbing, fearing that she has arrived too late to stop Alex. After a long pause, the mailbox flag finally lowers; Alex has picked up her note. Not long afterwards, a familiar mint-green truck pulls up. She walks forward smiling as the driver, clad in jeans and a familiar tan jacket, approaches. She and Alex kiss and walk toward the lake house.
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THE LAKE HOUSE
"true love waits".
What You Need To Know:
(RoRo, B, LL, V, A, M) Strong Romantic worldview emphasizing following one’s heart and a brief reference to nihilist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche with some light moral elements portraying love between family members, respect for elders and caring for the sick; brief foul language includes three light obscenities and eight mostly light profanities; very brief violence depicting commotion after a pedestrian is struck by a car (although the occurrence is not portrayed); no sex; no nudity; light alcohol use in several scenes; no smoking or drug content; and, a woman cheats on her boyfriend by kissing another man.
More Detail:
THE LAKE HOUSE is a romantic fantasy starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.
Bullock plays Kate Forster, a single doctor who is forced to move from her lake house to work at a new hospital. She leaves behind correspondence asking to have her mail forwarded to her new address and receives a follow-up note from Alex Burnham (Reeves), which oddly has a two-year-old postmark on the envelope. As the two begin flirtatiously corresponding through letters, they soon realize their communication inexplicably defies boundaries of space and time. Alex, it turns out, lived at the lake house a couple of years before Kate lived there and is somehow communicating with her in the future. At first playful and exciting, their odd predicament becomes more serious and frustrating as they begin to fall in love. Heeding the lessons from her favorite novel, Jane Austen’s PERSUASION, Kate must learn to wait for true love’s mysterious and unpredictable timing.
An American adaptation of Lee Hyun-seung’s acclaimed Korean romance IL MARE, THE LAKE HOUSE has all the ingredients of chick flick melodrama, and the recipe is as predictable as the plot’s resolution. Take a sulking, aging single woman, a dopey-eyed hopeless romantic, coat it with sappy dialogue dripping with extra cheese, and let it bake for about a hundred minutes. The final product is an eye-roll and smirk-inducing date movie that will quench the appetite of the overly-sentimental audience member, but leave most checking their watches by the movie’s halfway point.
The biggest problem with THE LAKE HOUSE is similar to Kate and Alex’s dilemma, one mocked by the laws of space and time. Because they communicate mostly through writing one another, which is presented to the audience by voice-overs, little chemistry is developed between the two love birds. The story fails to reveal why they are so taken by one another. Thus, their supposed connection seems rather forced.
At one point, Alex’s brother offhandedly quotes Friedrich Nietzsche, telling him, “Life would be useless without music.” Perhaps it’s no coincidence that one of the movie’s few redeeming qualities is its stellar soundtrack, which includes great tracks from Nick Drake, Paul McCartney, The Clientele, and Tom Waits.
THE LAKE HOUSE is happily devoid of many elements that taint modern love stories, such as sexual content and excessive foul language. The movie also contains many instances of moral behavior. The main characters exemplify compassion for those suffering, respect for elders, and love for their family.
THE LAKE HOUSE does, however, have a strong Romantic worldview telling people to follow their heart. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.
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- DVD & Streaming
The Lake House
- Drama , Romance
Content Caution
In Theaters
- Keanu Reeves as Alex Wyler; Sandra Bullock as Dr. Kate Forester; Dylan Walsh as Morgan; Shohreh Aghdashloo as Dr. Anna Klyczynski; Christopher Plummer as Simon Wyler, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Henry Wyler
Home Release Date
- Alejandro Agresti
Distributor
- Warner Bros.
Movie Review
In the Korean film Siworae, a man renting a seaside home finds himself exchanging letters with a woman living in the same rental … two years apart. He’s in 1997. She’s in 1999. It seems the mailbox is a time portal of some kind, so she’s able to tell him about things before they happen. And he can “fix” things for her before they become a problem. In the process, they develop a romantic attraction and attempt to meet up in the future. Clever idea. And Hollywood, always willing to recycle a clever idea, does so once again by reuniting Speed co-stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in The Lake House .
In this Americanized version of the tale, relationally frustrated Chicago physician Kate Forester vacates a beautiful lake house in 2006. She leaves a note telling the next tenant where to forward her mail, mentioning as an aside that the unsightly trail of paw prints leading to the front door was there when she moved in. But before any new tenants arrive, an old one visits the mailbox and plucks her letter out. Architect Alex Wyler, whose estranged father built the lake house decades earlier, has just purchased the rundown home of his youth and is in the process of sprucing it up … in 2004.
Alex is perplexed by Kate’s note. No one has ever rented the place. He looks for the paw prints, but finds none. That’s because they haven’t been left yet. Like the Korean film that inspired it, The Lake House proceeds to eavesdrop on the correspondence between these two detached souls—connected over time by a mystical mailbox—and develops a rooting interest in their attempt to bridge the gap.
Positive Elements
We see the fallout from a man putting ego and career ahead of his family—a valuable warning for workaholic dads needing a priority check. Not that crusty old Simon Wyler was always so selfish. He once “worshipped” his wife so devoutly that he designed and built the lake house for her when Alex was just a boy. But shortly after that, Simon became a famous architect who let professional and artistic ambitions consume him and drive his wife away, leading to a deep rift between him and his two sons. Alex tells his little brother, “Dad knew how to build a house, not a home.”
Kate is a caring physician and Good Samaritan. When she realizes she can communicate backward in time to Alex, she shares information that will help him (even putting a scarf in the mailbox and warning him of an unexpected snowstorm). For his part, he takes advantage of this strange phenomenon to serve her with acts of kindness. Characters who harbor bitter resentment toward loved ones bear scars, proving that it’s healthier to forgive.
Alex’s father explains how good architecture that is meant to stand the test of time considers its surroundings in nature, especially its relation to primary light sources. He doesn’t intend it as such, but that little speech about being “captivated by the light” can double as a powerful metaphor for a majestic life constructed with sensitivity to Christ (John 3:19-21), and the beauty that comes from being captivated by Jesus.
[ Spoiler Warning ] After nursing an unhealthy grudge, Alex finally puts resentment aside and rushes to his father’s side when he’s taken ill. A final twist in the romance advocates delayed gratification and the belief that true love waits—not in a sexual sense (though viewers could apply it that away as well), but by recognizing that a relationship’s long-term health may require that patience trump impetuousness. Similarly, in an age of impersonal e-mails and instant messaging, the film has a romantic attachment to letters written in one’s own hand.
Spiritual Elements
The mysterious metaphysical premise that allows two people to communicate two years apart is never explained. Was it fate? God? Viewers are left to draw their own conclusions. A religious man crosses himself upon hearing that he may be on death’s door.
Sexual Content
A brief scene shows Kate wearing a low-cut top. We see various couples kissing, once quite passionately. It is suggested that Kate and her boyfriend have shared an apartment for over a year. Alex’s co-worker eyes him lustfully.
Violent Content
A man gets hit by a bus, which also crunches a car. Kate’s mother casually discusses a novel in which a guy breaks a woman’s neck with an axe.
Crude or Profane Language
Fewer than 20 profanities, but several are brash abuses of Christ’s name. There are also a “g-d–n” and two s-words.
Drug and Alcohol Content
While no one gets drunk, nearly everywhere the camera turns it picks up people drinking alcohol, either at home, in bars, at parties or in restaurants. Kate’s beverage of choice is wine. Alex’s is beer (Budweiser gets prominent label time). One of Kate’s co-workers consumes martinis.
Other Negative Elements
Kate allows herself to be drawn in by—and kisses—a man she barely knows. Because she and Alex see their love bloom via long-distance, faceless correspondence, the film may feed someone’s romantic notion that a soul mate waits in an Internet chat room somewhere (where lonely hearts also encounter heartache, deception and online predators).
What the sci-fi thriller Frequency did for fathers and sons, The Lake House does for incurable romantics. This is a sweet time-warp story that, despite asking audiences to suspend a certain amount of disbelief, adheres pretty well to its own internal logic. I could’ve done without the profanity, but Argentinean director Alejandro Agresti does a marvelous job of avoiding other offensive content that a dyed-in-the-wool Hollywood insider might’ve thrown in just to get a PG-13. Agresti’s visual style is equally impressive. He celebrates beauty in the big city, turns the glass-walled lake house into a window on the lives of very private people, and uses clever split screens to simultaneously show Alex and Kate’s closeness and distance.
More than anything, it’s wonderful to watch as the main characters grow to love each other based on friendly conversation, not physical attraction or some personal agenda. Sandra Bullock was drawn to that, too, noting that the couple avoids “the superficial song and dance that always happens when people first meet and are trying to present their best side. … Because of the unusual nature of the connection there’s no embarrassment and no fear of sharing all of yourself because there’s a part of you still saying, ‘Well, this doesn’t really exist,’ or ‘Even if it does, I’ll never meet this person so what’s to worry about?’ What makes them fall in love so deeply is the utter fearlessness they have in revealing their vulnerabilities up front.”
She’s right. They have no reason to believe that a future exists for them, yet they behave unselfishly anyway. And while each is in an emotional rut, they don’t look for answers with indiscriminate Sex and the City -style hook-ups. Tenderness. Selflessness. Restraint. It’s nice to see those virtues on the big screen again. Of course, after the lights came up at the screening I attended, one middle-aged man commented, “If she really loved him, she would’ve sent him a newspaper with the winning lottery numbers in it.” Who says guys aren’t romantic?
Bob Smithouser
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The Lake House Review
23 Jun 2006
Lake House, The
The polar opposite of speed,** **Keanu Reeves and Sandy Buttocks’ first movie together since The Bus That Couldn’t Slow Down is a slow, borderline sombre, but absorbing time-travel love story. A remake of little-seen Taiwanese film Il Mare, retooled by Argentinian director Agresti — who made the charming Valentin — The Lake House buttresses Sleepless In Seattle up against novel The Time Traveler’s Wife. The result grows on you, but never delivers the moving sucker-punch the stars and concept deserve.
Early doors, things do not look promising. The slick juxtaposition of Kate and Alex’s separate lives sets in motion a rigid structure, throwing up workaday scenes that offer little in the way of character quirks or plot hooks. But things pick up immeasurably once the ‘long-distance’ relationship gathers momentum, with cute moments like Alex planting a sapling that arrives fully grown outside Kate’s house. From here on in, the movie has fun filtering romance through time-travel devices — Alex books a restaurant two years in advance — but gives the relationship enough weight so you’ll forgive it the inevitable logic lapses.
A long way from the sleek Neo, a subdued Reeves skulks about in high-neck jumpers and doesn’t really sell an estranged relationship with his father (Christopher Plummer), but does enough
to make the relationship and Kate’s investment feel real. Bullock fares much better, reminding us what an underrated dramatic actress she is, doing interesting things with an underwritten role — watch her compose herself for a surprise party she’s not in the mood for.
Enhancing the tenderness of the tale, Agresti lenses the action in soft, pretty tones and compiles a soundtrack of different likeable acoustic songs. But, as befalls many epistolary movies, he runs
out of steam coming up with new ways of dramatising the letters, resorting to heavy voiceover and characters talking aloud to themselves in scenes that feel false. He also can’t help piling on the visual metaphors — the Lake House is a glassy abode hemmed in by water that — hey!— mirrors Kate and Alex’s disconnectedness — and deploys a shameless use of HHISS (Heavy Handed Ice-Skating Symbolism) to underline Kate’s singledom. Still, he keeps the central conceit engaging and sweet and, if he blatantly telegraphs one major plot point, The Lake House is that romantic rarity, a love story where the fate of the lovers could go either way.
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Movies | 19 06 2006
The Lake House (2006) Review
Confusing time travelling romance.
The Lake House (2006)
I can probably count on one hand the number of romantic movies I really like. Naturally, number one is probably Casablanca, but probably the most recent one I truly enjoyed was Serendipity. Funny that I should mention Serendipity in the context of a review of The Lake House because both movies are about couples that have to navigate time to find the right circumstances in which to be together. Why this is exactly, we never know.
In The Lake House, we meet dedicated doctor Kate, who is moving out of a beautiful glass house that sits on the lake to pursue her career at a Chicago hospital. Then we see architect Alex move into the same house, snow’s on the ground so we assume that some time has passed since the Kate left. She left a letter of welcome to the new owner in the mailbox which is received by Alex, but immediately something is wrong because Kate’s letter makes reference to things that have yet to happen to house, like a box in the attic or the paw prints on the front walk.
Eventually, the couple realizes that they are communing through time; Kate lives two years ahead of Alex. (Of course if you’ve seen the trailers and the commercials this plot point was already spoiled.) The two strike up an unlikely romance corresponding to each other through the magical time traveling mail box. They even go on time displaced dates like a walking tour of Chicago’s finest architecture with Kate taking the walk exactly two years later than Alex.
Eventually the twosome decide that they must meet, and Alex makes arrangements exactly two years and a day later to meet Kate at Chicago’s fanciest restaurant. But as the trailer also spoils, Alex doesn’t show. What happened? Why? And will these two ever get together?
I won’t spoil the ending except to say that Kate and Alex create a temporal paradox, I’ve read enough about quantum physics to know what that is. This is an interesting concept, but there are far too many plot holes to pratfalls in the script to suspend disbelief enough. Like why wouldn’t Kate try and Google Alex and find out what happened to him or maybe do something unselfish like warn him about the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina; they clearly didn’t care about other implications to the space-time continuum.
Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves ably prove that they still have their Speed chemistry even though the plot requires them to be separated through much of the movie. Director Alejandro Agresti tries to resolve this by making their letters to each other seem more conversational, which would be fine if they were text messaging with magic cell phones as opposed to good, old fashioned letter writing. A friend of mine questioned this by asking, “Are they writing like two sentences to each other?” When you start questioning the logistics of the movie, it’s kind of problematic for the audience.
Now, a word about Keanu. Say what you want about him: monotone, bland, comatose, I still think he is a deceptively decent actor; he’s just so natural it blows your mind. Keanu is subtle, but he definitely creates a character and a performance. He plays it straight, but don’t confuse flourish with talent. Does he play the same confused persona movie after movie? I don’t think so. Does he just play a certain type really, really well? I think that’s fair, and I defy anyone to admit that they’ve never met anyone like a Keanu character.
There are just so many incredible leaps in logic to really get comfortable with this film; like the fact that Alex finds a dog that later comes into Kate’s possession. The two exchange this fact and Alex never stops to think, “Hey, how did the future girl end up with my dog?” It’s also revealed at one point that Alex and Kate met at Kate’s birthday party at some point in the intervening two years, they even dance and kiss, but they don’t seem to put two and two together. I think Gob Bluth put it best when he said, “Come ON!”
And all this is to say nothing of the hokey dialogue and the musical selections right out of the Dawson’s Creek song book. There comes a point in these romantic movies where you either get hooked or you don’t. You buy the contrivances and follow along or you sit there watching something you’re marking like a school paper, checking all the mistakes with a red pen.
I like the chemistry between Bullock and Reeves, I liked the concept, I liked the supporting characters and I even liked some of the places the story went to. But then you see something like a two-year old message from Alex spray painted on a wall as Kate goes past on her walking tour and you sit there stunned thinking, “no one painted over that?”
I’m sure that The Lake House is good enough to make the truly romantic weepy enough to be satisfying, but it didn’t work for me. For when you start contemplating the literal physics behind a romantic drama, you know you are lost as an audience member.
Final Thoughts
Adam A. Donaldson, a dynamic writer, crafts a weekly political column for GuelphToday. A former contributor to CGMagazine, he's the force behind Guelph Politico. Outside politics, he writes for Nerd Bastards. Balancing passion with pragmatism, he navigates a diverse range of writing assignments.
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Lake House, The (United States, 2006)
Although this may amount to oversimplification, Alejandro Agresti's The Lake House is essentially a romance between two people connected by a time-traveling mailbox. As premises go, this has the virtue of uniqueness - Hollywood doesn't churn out time-traveling mailbox movies on a regular basis. Unfortunately, trying doesn't necessarily mean succeeding and, even for those who buy into the basic ideas, there are credibility gaps that The Lake House cannot surmount. And for those who attempt to apply logic to this movie, everything will come crashing down like a poorly balanced house of cards.
The Lake House is based on the 2000 South Korean film Il Mare , which I have not seen. The final scene, however, is lifted not from the original but from the Hollywood shelf of cheap cop-outs. How many foreign films, when "translated" into English, find their endings mangled or made over in order to pander to "mainstream" sensibilities? (Ironically, the ending of Il Mare was criticized in some circles for being too upbeat, although apparently not upbeat enough for Warner Brothers, which remove all vestiges of ambiguity.)
The Lake House is about the unlikely love affair between two lonely people: Alex (Keanu Reeves) and Kate (Sandra Bullock). Both live in an extravagant, glass walled house on the shore of Lake Michigan - he in 2004 and she in 2006. They "meet" and begin exchanging correspondence via the house's mailbox. The fact that their letters are traveling through time doesn't seem to bother them. Eventually, seeking to meet his soulmate, Alex seeks out Kate's 2004 counterpart. For her part, Kate waits patiently for Alex to "catch up" to her.
In for a penny, in for a pound, they say. If you choose to see The Lake House , you have to accept it as a fairy tale, time travel paradoxes and all. Don't think too hard - you'll spoil the mood. The romance, which is delicately developed as these two people reach out across the years to each other, is effective, but there's almost too much baggage. Two things in particular bothered me about this film, and neither had to do with its preposterous premise. First, despite all their correspondence, these two never send pictures. As a veteran of a long distance relationship, I can attest that pictures are the lifeblood of such interaction. Secondly, Kate never does an Internet search for her would-be love. Such lapses by the screenplay are unforgivable.
The Lake House represents the reunion of Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, who were last seen discussing the potential future of a relationship that starts under tense circumstances. The spark that ignited between them in Speed still burns - they make an appealing couple. Of course, since The Lake House is rated PG, their chemistry is more "cute" than "sexy." Christopher Plummer and Shoreh Aghdashloo have supporting roles (he as Alex's famous architect father; she as Kate's boss at a Chicago hospital). Really, though, their roles are peripheral. The Lake House lives and dies based on Reeves and Bullock. By keeping the human element of the film more important than the fantastical one, they ground The Lake House and allow us to overlook many of its contrivances.
I am conflicted about this film. I like the fact that it takes chances. I appreciate that it's trying to do a supernatural love story without falling into the schmaltz of Ghost . Yet I recognize that the screenplay is like Swiss cheese - riddled with holes, some of which are bigger and more distracting than others. The Lake House also has the odd distinction of raising metaphysical questions without boasting an overly intelligent storyline. Despite the conventional ending, which has a tacky, tacked-on feel, the movie is designed for those who are more adventurous when it comes to romance. It will be interesting to see if it finds an audience.
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- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
- (There are no more better movies of this genre)
- Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
- Matrix, The (1999)
- Speed (1994)
- Neon Demon, The (2016)
- Sweet November (2001)
- Matrix Resurrections, The (2021)
- Gravity (2013)
- Prince of Egypt, The (1998)
- Miss Congeniality 2 (2005)
- Speed 2 (1997)
- Miss Congeniality (2000)
- (There are no more better movies of Shoreh Aghdashloo)
- American Dreamz (2006)
- (There are no more worst movies of Shoreh Aghdashloo)
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COMMENTS
"The Lake House" tells the story of a romance that spans years but involves only a few kisses. It succeeds despite being based on two paradoxes: time travel, and the ability of two people to have conversations that are, under the terms established by the film, impossible. Neither one of these problems bothered me in the slightest. Take time travel: I used to get distracted by its logical flaws ...
June 16, 2006. "The Lake House," a wondrously illogical time-travel romance directed by Alejandro Agresti, is notable mainly for reuniting Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, who together survived a ...
The Lake House is a 2006 American fantasy romance film directed by Alejandro Agresti and written by David Auburn.A remake of the 2000 South Korean film Il Mare, it stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, who last appeared together in the 1994 action thriller film Speed. The film revolves around an architect (Reeves) living in 2004 and a doctor (Bullock) living in 2006 who meet via letters left ...
Agresti and Auburn are great romantics. "The Lake House" is a testament to true love, and having one's life being whole and complete. They manage a sense of yearning and regret with humor and compassion. Sandra Bullock is stunning in her understated performance. She brings such a grace and authenticity to Kate.
Movie Info. A lonely doctor (Sandra Bullock), who once lived in a beautiful lakeside home, falls in love via letters with its latest resident, a frustrated architect (Keanu Reeves). When they ...
The Lake House: Directed by Alejandro Agresti. With Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Christopher Plummer, Ebon Moss-Bachrach. A lonely doctor who once occupied an unusual lakeside house begins to exchange love letters with its former resident, a frustrated architect. They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.
Our review: Parents say ( 7 ): Kids say ( 4 ): Evocative and sometimes lovely, THE LAKE HOUSE is all about waiting. While this refers to the central couple, it also affects viewers, who must wait for alternately obvious and illogical plot points to be resolved. Occasionally rewarding, this slow movement is sometimes annoying, and the switch ...
The Lake House (2006) Reviewed by Matthew Leyland. Updated 25 June 2006. Contains mild language and accident scene. More than a decade after they struck sparks aboard a bomb-laden bus, Keanu ...
The Lake House - Metacritic. 2006. PG. Warner Bros. 1 h 39 m. Summary Based on the original 2000 South Korean film "Il Mare," The Lake House is a love story that explores the intriguing concept of an intimate communication across time. Drama.
The time-warp romantic fantasy The Lake House is a puzzle that is maddeningly obtuse, emotionally overstretched, and virtually absent a sense of interior logic. 50. Variety Robert Koehler. Never quite sure what it wants to be -- a magical-mysterious love story, a psychodrama, a sprawling family saga, or an uneasy combination of these.
Alejandro Agresti directed the romantic fantasy movie 'The Lake House.' The story, an adaptation of the South Korean film 'Siworae,' follows lonesome medical practitioner Kate (Sandra Bullock). When her attempts at saving a hit-and-run victim on Valentine's Day 2006 fails, Kate lets the viewers know how she has inherited the titular lake house that she […]
Today reviewing the 2006 film, The Lake House. Starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Christopher Plummer, and Dylan Walsh. Directed by Alejandro AgrestiMy P...
Bruce Bennett Spectrum (St. George, Utah) Endless implausibility, cheesy dialogue, and the inert personalities of its charisma-zapped leads conspire to doom this chilly magical mailbox love sham ...
The most recent home video release of The Lake House movie is September 25, 2006. Here are some details… The tranquil love story, The Lake House, ripples into the home entertainment marketplace with this DVD release. Offered in either full or wide screen editions, the disc features Dolby Surround 5.1 audio tracks in English, French and ...
Find trailers, reviews, synopsis, awards and cast information for The Lake House (2006) - Alejandro Agresti, Dylan Walsh, Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock on AllMovie - Two people develop an unusual relationship that…
Discover a love that transcends time in 'The Lake House' (2006). Starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, this enchanting romantic drama follows the mysteri...
The Lake House. Details: 2006, USA, Cert PG, 98 mins. Direction:Alejandro Agresti. Genre: Drama / Romance. Summary: A lonely doctor and an architect fall in love, despite living in parallel time ...
Synopsis. In 2006, Dr. Kate Forster (Sandra Bullock) is leaving a lake house that she has been renting in Chicago. Kate leaves a note in the mailbox for the next tenant to forward her mail, adding that the paint-embedded paw-prints on the path leading to the house were already there when she arrived. Two years earlier in 2004, Alex Wyler (Keanu ...
THE LAKE HOUSE is happily devoid of many elements that taint modern love stories, such as sexual content and excessive foul language. The movie also contains many instances of moral behavior. The main characters exemplify compassion for those suffering, respect for elders, and love for their family. THE LAKE HOUSE does, however, have a strong ...
Movie Review. In the Korean film Siworae, a man renting a seaside home finds himself exchanging letters with a woman living in the same rental … two years apart. He's in 1997. She's in 1999. ... The Lake House does for incurable romantics. This is a sweet time-warp story that, despite asking audiences to suspend a certain amount of ...
22 Jun 2006. Running Time: 98 minutes. Certificate: PG. Original Title: Lake House, The. The polar opposite of speed,** **Keanu Reeves and Sandy Buttocks' first movie together since The Bus That ...
Read our review of The Lake House (2006), a romantic weepy that may leave you with mixed feelings. ... Movie Reviews; Tabletop Reviews; Hardware Reviews; TV Series Reviews; Comic/Book Reviews ...
A movie review by James Berardinelli. Although this may amount to oversimplification, Alejandro Agresti's The Lake House is essentially a romance between two people connected by a time-traveling mailbox. As premises go, this has the virtue of uniqueness - Hollywood doesn't churn out time-traveling mailbox movies on a regular basis.