The Lake House

Keanu Reeves and Sandra
Bullock are back with their dynamic chemistry in THE
LAKE HOUSE. The film revolves around a rather unusual
glass house built on stilts set in a lake outside of
Chicago, Illinois. Kate Forster (Bullock) moves out
of the house in the spring of 2006, into an apartment
in Chicago, where she is starting her career as a doctor.
Before she leaves, she drops an envelope with a forwarding
address to whoever will occupy the house next. The mailbox
is located right out in front of the path to the bridge,
which leads to the house’s door. She checks back
sometime later to see if she has any mail, and finds
a letter from a man, Alex Wyler (Reeves), who claims
he is living in the house at that very moment! The date
he writes on his letter to her says 2004, and Kate leaves
a snide reply note mentioning (among other things) the
wrong date. Through their odd correspondence, sent and
received from this same mailbox nearby the lake house,
it comes out that Alex is living in the year 2004, exactly
2 years to the day back from when Kate is living!

They both have their own reasons for being lonely and
through this mailbox, in ways unexplained, they are
able to reach out and feel that special connection with
another person, that is so needed and lacking in their
own lives.

Alex is an architect, who has a true passion for the
warmth of a home’s design, rather than just its
functionality or original design. Alex’s father,
Simon Wyler (Christopher Plummer), is proud and defiant
as his health wanes, and as his son tries to get closer
to him in these final days of his own life. Christopher
Plummer gives a very noteworthy performance as the brash,
arrogant “Architect of the Year” award recipient,
who belittles Alex’s views on architectural development,
while hiding from him the fact that he envies his ability
to create a home, rather than just a house, in his building
senses.

Kate enjoys helping people, in her role as doctor, and
after her last failed relationship has kept quite a
distance from men.

Alex and Kate forge a strong bond, but have to find
a way to bridge this gap between them, before it is
too late and their love is lost forever!

Keanu acts very well in this film, and complimented
by Sandra, they give solid depth and breadth to their
characters, enabling you to accept the implausible storyline,
with refreshingly sincere acting from both of them.

Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock first starred together
in a movie about a speeding bus wired with a bomb that
would not allow it to drop below 50 mph. Of course that
was ‘Speed,’ and it’s hard to believe
that was released over a decade ago, back in 1994. The
blockbuster film was not only a critical success, but
impressed audiences with its thrilling plot and tangible
chemistry shared by the two stars. The film’s
sequel ‘Speed 2: Cruise Control’ bombed,
due for the most part to the lack of Keanu Reeves being
in the film. Reeves and Bullock have an incredible,
almost magic presence that they create together on screen.

David Auburn pens a terrific screenplay that is both
far fetched, but beautifully believable in how the lovers
from different times are cleverly intertwined. Auburn
also wrote the terrific play ‘Proof’, which
he adapted for the film version that starred Gwyneth
Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins.

While Keanu Reeves has starred with many fine female
leads, including Cameron Diaz, Carrie-Anne Moss, Charlize
Theron and Winona Ryder, none of those pairings can
compare to the explosively memorable pairing he had
with Sandra Bullock in ‘Speed’ and that
we are fortunate enough to witness again in ‘The
Lake House.’ I truly feel they are one of modern
cinemas most enigmatic on screen male-female couples.

This is the most unique and affecting romantic drama
to come out in a very long time, in a class all its
own.