Review of The Lake House (2006) by Dierregi — 15 Dec 2014

If you want to enjoy “The lake house” you should know that it requires plenty of suspended disbelief and no rational approach.

Chronologically, the story “sort-of” starts in 2004, when Alex comes back to the Chicago area and settles in a glass house built many years previously by his architect father. Alex and dad don’t get along, even if they share the same profession.

In the house Alex finds a note from alleged “lodger” Kate, who recently moved out with regret to central Chicago. However, Alex knows that the house was closed for years and writes back to Kate, basically asking what is wrong with her. A correspondence follows between the two, during which they discover that Kate rented the house after Alex, possibly in 2005 (the timeline is a bit confused) and she moved out at the beginning of 2006.

The two exchange letters using the mailbox outside the house, regular postal service clearly not being an option. Although I agree that writing letters is very romantic, one may wonder why they do not exchange photos, emails or phone calls….

They quickly discover to be soul mates and Alex tries several times to meet Kate. It should be remembered that in 2004 Kate is still unaware about his existence, so when they actually meet the experience is very different for them. To complicate things, Kate has a boyfriend in 2004 – but not in 2006.

Alex knows to be in love and want to be with Kate. At this stage, enters the plot twist, which feels highly contrived even in such an unlikely scenario. However, we are supposed to root for Alex and Kate, two people who can truly connect with very few around them and who are bound to be together against all odds. Will 2008 be the year when they can finally be happy together?

The time paradox is the most intriguing part and should be explored more in details, but the movie can still be considered a satisfactory, unusual romantic movie.