Movie review - The Lake House

Who likes movies that mess with your mind a bit? And when I say mess with your mind, I don't mean something as dumbass as *oh, it was all a dream!* like Vanilla Sky. I mean something that produces a *whoa! That's freaky!* kind of reaction like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The Lake House is one that MAJORLY messes with your mind.

The Lake House is based on the 2000 Korean movie Il Mare (original Korean = Siworae). Kate Forster (Sandra Bullock) is a doctor who is moving out of a house built on a lake, hence the title Lake House. She decides to leave a letter for the next tenant. Architect Alex Wyler (my future husband, Keanu Reeves) moves in, finds the letter and points out somethings wrong in his reply.

1. It's obvious no one has lived in the house in years, and
2. The year is 2004, Kate has dated her letter as 2006.

After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing with letters, they realise that the letterbox is some kind of conduit that exists in two different timelines. Is that screwing enough with your head? Despite the seemingly impossible barrier, the two fall in love...but how to join the time-separated lovers?

I won't talk about plot of acting or writing because, put simply, whether or not you enjoy Lake House will depend on whether or not you're willing to just accept it as it is. Or you can try and work out how the time-space continuum thing works. Or you can feel like you've been punched in the head several times, like Pooky did! Jiggs had not seen Lake House but he had seen Il Mare and as I said in the Sydney Rundown, we had a massive argument about whether the time paradox works or not. I said that it did because while their conscious awareness of each other exists at different points in time, they themselves exist in the same time as each other. Jiggs said it was impossible for them ever to meet because they exist in two different timeframes. Jia hadn't seen either movie and couldn't add anything. In any case, I hear the endings are different - this may be where our problem stems from.

In any case, I found I enjoyed it and didn't feel as though I'd been punched too hard.
7/10
(Poster from www.thecinemasource.com)