Entre deux rives

Upon moving out from her beautiful lake house a woman named "Kate Forster" (Sandra Bullock) puts a letter in her mailbox for the person moving in asking that her mail be forwarded to her new address. Much to her surprise she finds that her letter is replied to with a strange response saying that the house she is referring to has been vacant for several years. Needless to say, this perplexes her and so she puts another letter into the mailbox assuring the person that she has lived in that house until recently and that includes the current year of 2006. Not only that but she also repeats the request to forward her mail to an address in nearby Chicago. This now puzzles the new resident, "Alex Wyler" (Keanu Reeves) who is living in the year 2004 and when he checks the address listed by Kate discovers that the apartment building is not due to be completed until 18 months later. So he responds that there must be some mistake only to get a letter back telling him that he should dress warmly because if he is living during the time he claims then there will be a freak snowstorm that night. Sure enough, that night it snows. Not only that, but when he puts a letter in the mailbox for her the next morning he is startled to get a response within minutes. Likewise, she is also shocked when he answers within minutes to her as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an adorable fantasy-romance film which has several interesting twists and turns along the way. Admittedly, there were a couple of subplots which tended to detract from the story a bit but even so I enjoyed this movie for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

A glass house built on stilts over a lake near Chicago helps bring together a condo-developer and a kissless female doctor who has just begun practicing at her first big-city hospital. The trouble between them is, he's writing to her from 2004 and she's in present day 2006, and their link is a mailbox with a sense of time all its own. Superfluous-seeming romantic drama with an initially-perplexing story conceit actually works better than you might think (thanks to some sharp writing and handling, and nicely underplayed lead performances by Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock). Some of the plot elements don't bear close scrutiny (it might drive you mad to examine the details), yet fantasy films are governed by their own set of rules, and this one plays fair within its narrative structure, although it does keep the architect waiting an awfully long time just to get the girl. *** from ****

I saw a screening of this last night and maybe I was just in the right mood for it, but I really enjoyed it. I'm not even a chick-flick kind of girl! It's best if you don't over-analyze the time-travel details and just go with it... it's a movie, after all. Seriously, I wasn't expecting that much and I got a better feeling from this movie than I have in a long time - it made me feel warm and happy. Plus, the whole theater laughed at some parts, plus people gasped and cried, and at the end everyone applauded. That's a good sign, if you ask me. I don't watch previews so I don't know what they give away about the plot, so I'm not going to give much of anything away here. I will just say that to me this was a uniquely told romantic story. I happen to like Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, although they are by no means favorites of mine, nor do I consider them to be consistently amazing actors (more often they're not... at least he's not...). But they made this story work for me and I believe they have good chemistry. The movie is set in Chicago and shows the city off nicely without trying to beat you over the head with it (a la The Break-Up). One thing I think I related to a lot with these characters is that they are both pretty isolated and lonely, although not in a sad-sack way. I felt a longing from them for someone to relate to, and even though they have opportunities for other people to be involved in their lives... well it's not what's best for them and they don't settle. Plus, the actors are both in their 40s and I like seeing love stories that aren't about either two 22-year-olds or a 40-year-old man and a 22-year-old girl.

I saw this film on June 12th, 2006 at a preview showing in my home town of Austin, Texas. Admittedly, when I first viewed the trailer it appeared to be nothing more than a cheap romantic flick with a hunk (Keanu Reeves) and a pretty girl (Sandra Bullock). After watching this film, I realized first impressions can sometimes be wrong.

The plot may be a bit out of the ordinary. But if you suspend logic for an hour or two and believe in the magic of the story, it will draw you into a deeply passionate story. There are some twists that may or may not surprise (especially if you're as quick as my wife).

Although Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock have had some iffy acting performances in the past, both put in excellent performances that made their characters come alive. Each characters has a very earthy feel that makes them seem real and relatable.

Overall, I have to say this is a beautiful movie, from the story to the acting to the beautiful cinematography.

If I read one more negative review of this movie that takes it to task for being "implausible," I'm afraid I will lose it completely.

I have to ask myself what these same critics (assuming they're old enough to remember it) would have said about virtually any episode of the Rod Serling classic "Twilight Zone." I think it's safe to say most of those plots were based on fairly "implausible" happenings, in comparison to our real-life, day-to-day existence.

And I'm sure Richard Donner's "Superman" movie would have felt their wrath as well, since everyone knows people can't fly.

"Implausible." Good grief.

"The Lake House" is a romantic fairy tale -- and a darned good one, too. It's NOT confusing or hard to understand at all, assuming the viewer has more than two ounces of comprehension skill.

To me, the recent film it seems closest to in subject matter and style is "Frequency," which I also enjoyed tremendously.

And yes -- call me crazy, but the things that happen in "Frequency" are fairly "implausible" too.

And, oh yeah -- since I don't really believe angels have to jump through ridiculous hoops to get their wings, I'm guessing these same Scrooges have no use for "It's a Wonderful Life," either.

Sheesh.