The Lake House Better Off At The Bottom Of The Lake

     It has been 12 years since Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock costarred in the runaway-bus blockbuster Speed. Judging by their newest project together, The Lake House, that certainly isn’t nearly long enough. Speed was one of the greatest action flicks of all time but The Lake House, which slows things down, is one of the most confusing romances you’ll ever see. It is also trite, predictable and hopelessly dull.

     Bullock stars as Kate Forster, a woman living in Chicago in 2006. She often visits a lake house and suddenly receives a letter in the mailbox from Alex Wyler. Alex is played by Reeves and lives in the lake house… in 2004. While neither of them understand it, Kate and Alex exchange notes in the mailbox despite the time difference. They accept the oddity, share stories about themselves and eventually start a long-distance romance. Even their friends and family seem to allow the relationship - Kate’s mother played by Willeke Van Ammelrooy says that the time difference is only a detail.

     Kate helps Alex prepare for the past while Alex helps plan Kate’s future. Then, Alex finds Kate in 2004 and things start to make sense. Of course, Kate doesn’t know anything about their romance in that time so Alex must stay at a distance as to not come off as a lunatic. The couple finds difficulties in their relationship, though, especially when they try to plan a meeting. As always, time becomes the ultimate test of their love for one another.

     It is hard for me to write about The Lake House since I knew what it was all going to come down to within the first few minutes. The big twist isn’t that hard to spot from the beginning and thus the movie becomes a waiting game. This wouldn’t be so bad if the time we had to wait was even a little interesting. In fact, the movie becomes extremely boring – especially during the scenes that Bullock and Reeves share together in 2004.

     The one thing that The Lake House does well is the feeling of longing. While Bullock and Reeves share a few moments together in the same time, they are mostly two years apart so when we see them onscreen together there are certain visual effects to help us remember that they are really times apart. Instead of making moviegoers read their notes to each other, the filmmakers intelligently decide to have the characters act out monologues in the form of dialogues. It is a nice touch, but it can’t save the movie.

     The gimmick of the plot is terribly corny at first glance but it could have worked had it not been for the very confusing path the screenplay takes. I’m still baffled by some of the specifics but this may not be a matter of understanding but more one of logic. There are several moments in The Lake House that just don’t make sense. They don’t make sense in the real world and they still don’t make sense in the romantic fantasy world in which the motion picture takes place.

     It is nice to see Reeves and Bullock together again since they do have chemistry. However, The Lake House suggests only one thing about their relationship: It should have stayed on the bus.