Written by David Auburn Directed by Alejandro Agresti Running Time: 1:38 Rated PG for some language and a disturbing image. B-

The Lake House was a reasonable romantic film due mainly to the two starts.

Kate lives in 2006. Alex lives in 2004. And somehow, they fall in love. Kate moves out of her beautiful house on the lake and leaves a note in the mailbox for the new owner. Somehow, back in 2004, Alex gets the note and soon the two of them are sending letters back and forth to each other, through time and space. They soon fall in love and wonder if they can ever actually meet. If they do meet up, will the world come to an end?

With these kinds of time travelling/time shifting/time screwing with films, you have to take them with a grain of salt. If you refuse to accept the premise, then you'll never be able to enjoy the movie. If you simple say, OK, there's a time travelling mailbox, I can deal with that, then you'll appreciate the movie. I decided to accept the idea and just continue from there. That's not to say I didn't think (way too much) about the time travelling possibilities, and how things should play out, but I accepted and went with it.

I think the strangest thing about the film was that the time difference was only 2 years. Generally you'd expect that these two people would be 50 or 100 years apart and never have the chance to meet. Yet, they're only 2 years apart so you'd think that it would be fairly easy for them to meet. She picks a place and tells him to meet her there 2 years later. But this is a movie so things can't be that easy.

Keanu and Sandra, although never having dated, still seem to go together like pie and ice cream. Maybe it's just me, but they seem like a good couple and so that idea played in my head as I watched the movie. As odd as the premise is, I still wanted them to get together. It would have been nice if maybe they had met on a bus at one point, but maybe that's asking too much. Keanu has never been known for his acting skills but he does have a certain charm and good look about him. He may seem rather dumb at times, but a happy, goofy dumb that makes you root for him. Sandra has that, girl next door who never moved out of her parents house and is getting older and may never find a man, look about her but it makes her very endearing.

There are obviously going to be big gaping holes in a story like this. I've never met a time travelling/shifting/screwing with story that didn't have problems. As much as I wanted to accept the film it's still hard not to wonder about certain incidents and how if he changes one thing in the past how the entire future isn't messed up. It's like playing God. If you save someone from dying, how does the entire world not change? What if now that this guy is alive, he gets the last wheel of cheese at the deli, instead of some doctor who leaves it out too long and discovers a cure for cancer within the mold? Why does no one think of these things?

At its heart, the film is just about two people who fall in love and will do anything they can to get together, even if it means waiting a couple of years. Or for her, waiting a few more minutes. I have to say, as schlocky and strange as it was, I did enjoy the movie and would be more than happy to sit through it again. It is most definitely either a chick flick or a date movie so I'd need a date. I do however have new couches, so at least we'll be comfortable.

So overall, I enjoyed The Lake House. It won't win any awards any time soon, and if you think about it too much you'll go crazy, but if you take it for what it is, it's not a bad ride.

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