RUTHERFORD ON FILM: ‘The Lake House’: Romantic Destiny Harbors Two Years Out of Sync; Do You Believe in One and Only, Second Changes, Enchanted Mailboxes?
By Tony RutherfordHuntington News Network Writer
Huntington, WV (HNN) -- “That film’s magic, I love it,” a middle-aged woman told her companion as she carefully stepped down the last riser following a matinee showing of “The Lake House.” It’s an ultimate fantasy where you change the past, alter the present and enhance the future.
Spanning a love spinning in time portal, the re-make of this eloquent Korean film once again molds impossible elements into a traditional wish it could be style of romantic movie in which a couple struggles to beat the odds and fall forever into each other’s arms.
The genre has a few well-made sentimental predecessors, not the least of which is “Somewhere in Time,” that cast the late Christopher Reeve in a time traveling romance with a young actress at a picturesque Michigan hotel. Or, the remake of oldie “Berkley Square,” in which Tyrone Power stars as a man whisked by lightning backwards about two centuries where he meets a woman who proclaims, “I’ll Never Forget You.” Not unlike “Somewhere” or “Forget You,” “The Lake House” maximizes believability for its nearly preposterous enchanted mail box.
Alex (Keanu Reeves) and Kate (Sandra Bullock) fall into an unconventional long distance relationship in an antiquated way -- by writing letters, except they are separated by two years, not in age difference, but in where they exist.
Thus, as Christopher Reeve’s super-mind concentrated himself into the early 1900s, Bullock and Reeves play tag through an old fashioned tin mail box with a red flag. Just as you either accepted or reputed Reeve’s self-hypnosis in “Somewhere in Time,” the key to falling into “Lake House’s” grip is acceptance of the time travel mechanism which provides the fantasy with a 2004 to 2006 time gap.
Basically, a couple of well known rubric romance metaphors stridently ensure that the “real” not “science fiction” aspects of “Lake House” prevail.
First, both Alex and Kate have built their lives around their careers. Both find themselves at a decision making crossroads: Do I wait for something better around the corner or have I been spending my life waiting for a perfect love that does not exist?
Second, after the relationship’s first snafu leads Kate to hang it up, they face current society’s quandary of single versus isolated, as well as abandoning the ‘safe’ and determining whether a second chance is merited to ‘make it work.’
Intriguingly, their two-year old of sync barrier allows for several seldom questioned ‘meetings’ of the two where both have another person in their life. In fact, the apparent erased and selective memories of the couple nearly rationalize away the otherwise skillful premise. In other words, once their 2006 paths and eyes cross the writer and director must keep their contact brief, yet meaningful. (Yeah, I’m still asking why they didn’t exchange phone numbers or emails?)
So, let’s see if there’s any “Message in a Bottle” and real-life “Lake House” smoke gets in your eyes romantic destiny. Once upon a time, “Sunshine” crossed paths with me somewhere between “Harvey” and “Noises Off.” We kissed on a now imploded tower, then, watched “Laughter on the 34th Floor,” “Tommy” and “She Loves Me.” A lot of dysfunction spun us out of sync. Now, I ask, are you still waiting, too?
I’m waiting… just like the movie commands.