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Movies / On DVD / The Lake House
The Lake House

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The Lake House (2006)

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Reviews Counted:152

Fresh:55

Rotten:97

Average Rating:5/10

Consensus: The plot of The Lake House is a little too convoluted, and the film fails to pull off the sweeping romance it aims for.

Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for some language and a disturbing image

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Genre: Dramas

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. ... 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. [More]

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Christopher Plummer

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

Director: Alejandro Agresti

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

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Reviews for The Lake House

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Phantom mail ... a postal carrier's worst nightmare ...

Full Review Source: West Valley View | comment Comment
07/27/06
Michael Clawson
Michael Clawson
West Valley View

An intriguing idea. Too bad the asteroid sized temporal paradox ruins the end of the flm.

Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | comment Comment
07/25/06
Wesley Lovell
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy

Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock bring their respective talents to this badly fumbled attempt at a supernatural romantic comedy.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
07/20/06
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

It refreshingly becomes less about time travel and more about the choices we make and the chances we miss.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/11/06
Collin Souter
Collin Souter
eFilmCritic.com

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 Source: Cinenganos | comment Comment
07/10/06
Luis Martinez
Luis Martinez
Cinenganos

Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, two actors with talent I admire, launched their careers (at least as movie stars) on a runaway bus (Speed) in 1994. They appear to be throwing themselves under one here.

Full Review Source: San Antonio Express-News | comment Comment
07/10/06
Larry Ratliff
Larry Ratliff
San Antonio Express-News

Agresti has effectively skirted around hard logic with his velvety presentation.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
07/06/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

While it’s not the worst entry from either actor, it’s certainly another lame-brained blemish in their careers.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
07/04/06
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Film Threat

You know the picture is in trouble when the best actor is the dog and the dog isn't even named Lassie.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
07/01/06
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Considered as a vehicle for what I was looking for, (namely these two stars) a success. As a critic, some things you forgive.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment 1 Comment
06/29/06
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

Despite the conventions, and a time travel gimmick that winds up being an utter mess, there's something worth appreciating here which makes it certainly worth a look

Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
06/29/06
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons

I have always felt that both Ms. Bullock’s patented expressions of anguish and Mr. Reeves’ stoical minimalism have been somewhat underrated.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
06/28/06
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer

While the movie isn't as bad as its dubious trailer portends, it suffers terribly from a truncated narrative puzzle device that connects two lovers from different eras via an old-fashioned mailbox at a lake house.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
06/27/06
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

The most romantic movie since 'Somewhere In Time'

Full Review Source: jackiekcooper.com | comment Comment
06/24/06
Jackie K. Cooper
Jackie K. Cooper
jackiekcooper.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
06/24/06
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Bullock's decision to play Kate as a morose kill-joy is particularly inexplicable. She's getting letters from some hot architect through a hole in the time-space continuum, and yet her expression remains impassive, her voice flat, her outlook maudlin.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
06/24/06
Bruce Newman
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News

Who knows -- perhaps it's not a glitch in the fourth dimension that Kate and Alex must traverse, but rather just some bad editing.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/24/06
Christine James
Christine James
Boxoffice Magazine

...an effective romance...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
06/24/06
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

One of the most nonsensical and unsatisfying films of the year.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
06/24/06
Susan Tavernetti
Susan Tavernetti
Palo Alto Weekly

It's hard to recall a recent picture in which Bullock has been allowed to draw upon her natural charisma... After about 20 minutes, you just wish somebody would tickle her.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
06/23/06
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
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