What happens when you cross temporal mechanics and romance stories? Well, apparently, the movie Lake House. In this moving story, Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock play two people who fall in love, despite being inexplicably separated in time by a period of two years.

Cast:
Keanu Reeves – Alex Wyler
Sandra Bullock – Kate Forster
Christopher Plummer – Simon Wyler
Ebon Moss-Bachrach – Henry Wyler
Willeke van Ammelrooy – Kate's Mother
Dylan Walsh – Morgan
Shohreh Aghdashloo - Anna Klyczynski
Lynn Collins – Mona

Director: Alejandro Agresti

Plot:
The movie opens as Kate Forster is moving out of a rented lake house with her dog, in order to begin a new job as a doctor in Chicago. On her way out, she leaves a note for the next prospective tenet, wishing them well in the house she enjoyed living in so much. The next tenet, apparently, is Alex Wyler, who has purchased the property. Wyler is an architect from Chicago. As he pulls up, he finds the note in the mailbox. The problem is, the house which he is moving into has been vacant for years. Figuring there must be some mistake, he leaves a reply note to Kate, suggesting there must be some confusion on her part.

As Forster begins her new job, she finds it to be very stressful and emotionally draining. On her first day off, she heads back up to the area where the lake house was located to take a walk around. On a lark, she checks the mailbox, and discovers Wyler’s letter. She too is confused by the reply, and responds. Thus begins a series of correspondences between Alex and Kate, in which they discover that, indeed, they are writing each other from the past/future. Kate is living two years to the day in the future from Alex’s time.

As they write, they eventually fall for one another. Alex even makes contact with the past Kate, but does not mention anything of their correspondance, for obvious reasons. As the story unfolds, many interesting points play out, some obvious, some not so obvious, leading up to a resolution that may evoke some tears in the softer hearted viewers.

Thoughts:
I loved this movie. Granted, one needs to suspend their disbelief and not ask some obvious questions like, “how would this be possible?”, or “what is enabling them to speak to each other?”. If one is able to put aside those kinds of curiosities about trivial plot details, then one will be treated to a very nice and touching love story.

Reeves and Bullock had amazing chemistry in this film. One often forgets that Reeves can play these kind of roles, what with his fame for roles like Neo in The Matrix films. Bullock has always had a great romantic quality about her, and in this film, she plays a really good part as a dejected modern woman who desperately wants love, but cannot seem to find it in a place where she can have it. As she says in the film, the man who she would love to give her entire heart to lives two years in the past.


There were some elements of the story I thought were predictable, and an astute viewer may pick up on. I will not go into them here, as I don’t want to spoil it for any prospective viewer. But it was very interesting to see the whole temporal paradox thing play out and see how it affected their interactions and relationships. There were some interesting side stories, like Wyler’s relationship with his father, who was also an architect who, incidentally, designed and built the lake house as a gift for Alex’s mother. It wasn’t exactly clear how this tied into the themes of the story between Alex and Kate, other than to provide some additional depth to the characters, but they were interesting, nonetheless.

Overall:
This is a great film that one can get wrapped up in and carried away. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and would recommend this to anyone who enjoys such films. It would be perfect for a date night, if you wanted to have a quiet night at home, cuddled up on the couch and enjoying a movie. For you ladies, I might recommend having a box of tissues handy. I give this film four and three-quarter stars.

Related Reviews:

Keanu Reeves in Constantine

Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality 2

Christopher Plummer in Alexander


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older