June 18, 2006 -- The Lake House is an old-fashioned love story with a time-traveling twist, love letters which can cross the boundary of time. How this happens is not explained. It is either a magic mailbox, a magic house or a magic dog, but there is a magical connection of some kind between a man and a woman that connects them over a span of years. Somehow, them movie works as a romance, even though the plot actually makes no sense.

The two, Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves of “Constantine”) Kate Forester (Sandra Bullock of “Crash”) fall in love through these letters that somehow travel across the years. Each of them has the opportunity for other relationships, but they keep waiting in the hope of someday meeting that unseen, idealized other person behind the letters for real. This is not one of those lame movies about destiny. These two people were not destined to be together. They chose this path, they worked for it, they earned it. Love isn't something that just happens to you. It is a path chosen, and not an easy one.

The story makes no sense logically, but it works romantically. It is a bit slow going with several side trips taken to explore subplots, like Alex's relationship to his father, Simon Wyler (Christopher Plummer of “Inside Man”) and brother, Henry Wyler (Ebon Moss-Bachrach of “Stealth”). We don't get to know Kate's back story nearly as well. It appears this part of the story was left on the cutting room floor to speed things up a bit, which is probably just as well, but it seems a bit uneven. The Wylers are a family of architects and the architectural style of the Lake House is striking. There is also an informal architectural tour of Chicago which makes up a small part of the film. The film does have something to say about architecture and how a building's design reveals something about the person who designs it.

Both Reeves and Bullock are excellent and they have good chemistry during the relatively brief time they are on screen together. There are very few actual romantic movies that aren't comedies, or aimed at juveniles. “The Notebook” was the last one I saw like this. Romantic films aimed at adults are getting to be pretty rare. If you like this kind of film, see it quickly. There may not be another one of this type of film for another two or three years. This film rates a B.

The film is directed by Alejandro Agresti and is based on the film “Siworae.” It is rated PG and its running time is 105 minutes. It is a Warner Brothers release.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2006 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at .