Movie / The Lake House

If you loved Just Like Heaven you'll surely like The Lake House, since the two films have a lot in common. Boy (an architect, Keanu Reeve) meets girl (a doctor, Sandra Bullock) and they fall in love, but remain separated by a supernatural problem that needs to be resolved.

In this case they meet by exchanging notes through a mailbox, except they are disconnected in time by two years. She is living in 2006, in his future, while he is still living in 2004, in her past. Each has a less than suitable girl/boyfriend, and longs for true love with the other.

The Lake House is a romance novel, not a comedy since it has few jokes, but the drama level is mild, as the tension is mainly them trying to resolve their "long distance" love affair, plus him trying to reconcile with his "difficult" father, a famous architect and builder of the unique house on the lake. Reeve and Bullock are a suitable match and give a convincing performance of being in love.

A nice example of how a fairly simple script can be produced with a couple of likeable stars to create a satisfying, successful film without a lot of special effects. Once the "conceit" of the time transporting letter box is established, the script never deviates from that idea, which generates a sufficient plot depth -- for about a 90 minute film, which at 116 seems overlong.

(It might have been nice if Reeve's departed mother were shown to have a hand in the magic, but she stays out of the action. Also they could have cleaned up in the stock market, with her telling him which stocks to buy and sell, but neither of them thinks of this.)

Rated PG. No drugs or sex, other than some passionate kissing at the end, when they are united in real life. There are some mild hospital scenes, and someone is killed in a car accident, but these events are not dwelt upon.