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MOVIES / ON DVD / THE LAKE HOUSE
The Lake House

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The Lake House (2006)

36%
56%
63%
N/A
N/A
N/A
36 %
Reviews Counted: 151 Fresh: 54  Rotten:97 Average Rating: 5/10
 
Consensus: The plot is a little too convoluted. The plot of The Lake House is a little too convoluted, and the film fails to pull off the sweeping romance it aims for. more
 
Rated: PG
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Theatrical Release: 23-06-2006
Synopsis:
Feeling that it's time for a change in her life, Dr. Kate Forster (SANDRA BULLOCK) leaves the suburban Illinois locale where she completed her residency and takes a job at a busy Chicago hospital. One thing she is reluctant to leave behind is the uniquely beautiful house she's been renting - a... [More]
Feeling that it's time for a change in her life, Dr. Kate Forster (SANDRA BULLOCK) leaves the suburban Illinois locale where she completed her residency and takes a job at a busy Chicago hospital. One thing she is reluctant to leave behind is the uniquely beautiful house she's been renting - a spacious and artfully designed refuge with large windows that overlook a placid lake. It's a place in which she felt her true self. It is a winter morning in 2006. On her way to the city, Kate leaves a note in the mailbox for house's next tenant, asking him to forward her mail and noting that the inexplicable painted paw prints he might notice by the front door were there when she moved in. But when the next tenant arrives, he sees a much different picture. Alex Wyler (KEANU REEVES), a talented but frustrated architect working at a nearby construction site, finds the lake house badly neglected: dusty, dirty and overgrown with weeds. And no sign of paw prints anywhere. The house has special meaning for Alex. In a happier time it was built by his estranged father (CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER), a renowned architect who allowed his professional acclaim to grow at the expense of his family life. Alex feels a sense of peace here now and commits to restoring the property to its original beauty. He disregards Kate's note until, days later, while painting the weather-beaten jetty he sees a stray dog run across the fresh paint and then towards the entrance of the house, leaving paw prints exactly where she said they'd be. Baffled, Alex writes back, saying that the house had no occupant before him and wondering how she could have known about the dog; while Kate, who just left it a week ago, imagines he is playing some kind of joke on her and fires back a reply. Just for argument's sake, what day is it there? April 14, 2004. No, she says. It's April 14, 2006. The same day, two years apart. Can this be happening? As Kate and Alex continue to correspond through the lake house's mailbox they confirm that they are, incredibly, impossibly, living two years apart, and each at a time in their lives when they are struggling with past disappointments and trying to make a new start. Sharing this unusual bond, they reveal more of themselves to one another with each passing week - their secrets, their doubts and dreams, until they find themselves falling in love. Determined to bridge the distance between them at last and unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary connection, they tempt fate by arranging to meet. But, by trying to join their two separate worlds, they could risk losing each other forever. --© Warner Bros. [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Christopher Plummer, Ebon Moss-Bachrach

Director: Alejandro Agresti
Screenwriter: David Auburn
Producer: Sonny Mallhi, Dana Goldberg, Doug Davison
Composer: Rachel Portman

DVD Info

Release:

Feb 10, 2007

[DVD Details]

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image

Bullock holds her half of the movie up well, proving that she can do subdued just as well as sunny.

Full Review | Comment
07/01/06 04:00 AM
Matthew Leyland
BBC
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Ratings Image

Just when we think we've come to terms with its brand of poorly-plotted silliness it ups the ante once more.

Full Review | Comment
07/01/06 04:00 AM
Joe Utichi
FilmFocus
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The Lake House demands a serious suspension of disbelief, but if you accept it as a romantic bit of nonsense, it has its pleasures.

Full Review | Comment
06/24/06 04:02 AM
Anna Smith
Time Out
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Ratings Image

The last time Bullock and Reeves were together on screen the result was Speed. This should have been entitled Stop.

Full Review | Comment
06/24/06 04:02 AM
Mark Kermode
Guardian [UK]
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A movie that's trying with all its might to be an earnest, poignant relationship drama, yet it fails at each and every turn thanks to zero chemistry between its leads and the complete absence of a coherent plot.

Full Review | Comment
06/24/06 04:02 AM
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
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A compelling idea delicately handled and neatly played, especially by Bullock. It just lacks the emotional directness to turn the good into the great.

Full Review | Comment
06/24/06 04:02 AM
Ian Freer
Empire Magazine
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If you're not sucked in by the romance of the story, there's a chance you'll find it laughably awful, thanks to poorly written lines and Keanu's delivery of the world's least convincing sneeze.

Full Review | Comment
06/24/06 04:02 AM
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
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Reunites the stars of Speed for a film that's beautifully shot but about as unspeedy as humanly possible.

Full Review | Comment
06/21/06 05:27 AM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
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Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
07/14/07 04:58 AM
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
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I can't believe that even the most rabid chick-flick masochists wouldn't gag on it.

Full Review | Comment
11/24/06 03:18 AM
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
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Maybe I'm just overly romantic or sentimental or just plain naive, but I probably liked The Lake House more than I should have.

Full Review | Comment
09/27/06 04:12 PM
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
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Time-travel films often bring up a lot of questions, and they often fall apart with thoughtful scrutiny, but that's part of the fun. However, one shouldn't be wondering that the only benefit these two have with this magical mailbox connection is that they

Full Review | Comment
08/23/06 11:06 PM
Michael Szymanski
Sci-Fi Weekly
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A little under water, but it still floats.

Full Review | Comment
08/21/06 08:44 PM
Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel
3BlackChicks Review
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Endless implausibility, cheesy dialogue, and the inert personalities of its charisma-zapped leads conspire to doom this chilly magical mailbox love sham. Nice soundtrack, though.

Full Review | Comment
08/14/06 10:49 AM
Bruce Bennett
Spectrum (St. George, Utah)
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Like all good romantic movies there's a beautiful house on the lake and a cuddly dog. Good dialogue, great direction, sweet cinematography and good acting -- even by Keanu.

Full Review | Comment
08/02/06 10:13 AM
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card
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Phantom mail ... a postal carrier's worst nightmare ...

Full Review | Comment
07/27/06 03:02 PM
Michael Clawson
West Valley View
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An intriguing idea. Too bad the asteroid sized temporal paradox ruins the end of the flm.

Full Review | Comment
07/25/06 11:48 AM
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy
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Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock bring their respective talents to this badly fumbled attempt at a supernatural romantic comedy.

Full Review | Comment
07/20/06 10:23 PM
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
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It refreshingly becomes less about time travel and more about the choices we make and the chances we miss.

Full Review | Comment
07/11/06 05:22 PM
Collin Souter
eFilmCritic.com
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Reeves y Bullock no interpretan el papel de su vida, sin embargo cumplen con las expectativas del público en un producto ligero de fin de semana.

Full Review | Comment
07/10/06 04:51 PM
Luis Martinez
Cinenganos
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