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The Lake House (film)

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The Lake House
Original Theatrical Poster
Directed byAlejandro Agresti
Written byDavid Auburn
Produced bySonny Mallhi
StarringKeanu Reeves
Sandra Bullock
Edited byAlejandro Brodersohn
Music byRachel Portman
Paul McCartney
Distributed byWarner Brothers
Release dates
US June 16, 2006
Running time
US 105 min
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUS $40 million

Template:Infobox movie certificates The Lake House is a 2006 romantic drama film remake of the Korean motion picture Il Mare (2000).

It was written by David Auburn and directed by Alejandro Agresti and stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock as Alex Wyler and Kate Forster, as an architect and a doctor living in 2004 and 2006 respectively. It also reunites Reeves and Bullock for the first time since Speed in 1994.

Plot

Template:Spoiler The movie centers around lonely Dr. Kate Forster (Sandra Bullock) who, on a winter morning in 2006, reluctantly leaves the beautiful lake house where she has been living for a job in a Chicago hospital. On her way to Chicago, she leaves a note for the lake house's new tenant asking him to kindly forward her mail and telling him the paw prints by the front door and the box in the attic were there when she moved in.

However, Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves), the new tenant, sees a different lake house, one which was neglected, dirty, and there were certainly no paw prints and no box in the attic. He disregards Kate's letter until a few days later; he is painting the walkway to the house and a stray dog runs across the fresh paint leaving paw prints where Kate said they would be. He writes back to Kate, only to discover that they are separated in time by two years, with Alex living in 2004 and Kate living in 2006 (the year the film was released). In her second letter to Alex, Kate writes: "Oh, by the way it is 2006. Has been all year, ask anyone." Kate mentions she is presently [in 2006] living at 1620 North Racine in Chicago. Alex goes to that address [in 2004], with the intention of personally delivering a letter to her at her apartment, and discovers that an unfinished construction site exists at 1620 North Racine. Alex estimates that the site will not be finished for another 18 months.

As Kate and Alex continue to correspond through the mailbox, they find themselves falling in love. Because Kate is in the future, she can tell Alex where to look for her in 2004 in places she has been. On one occasion, she asks Alex to bring her back something important (a gift from her father; her favorite novel by Jane Austen called Persuasion), which she left two years ago during a train station meeting with her then-beau. Alex goes to the station and finds the item and sees Kate with long hair. Even though he has the item, he does not place it in the mailbox to return it to her. Instead, he says that he will return it to her personally, "one way or the other." Alex sends her a personalized map of Chicago and takes her on a walking tour of his favorite places in the city one Saturday morning. He leaves her a loving message on a brick wall at the end written in 2004, that she sees in 2006.

By the same dog (Jack) that put prints on the walkway, Alex and his female suitor Mona, whom he is uninterested in, meet Kate's boyfriend Morgan and are both invited to attend her surprise birthday party. At the party, Kate is frustrated with Morgan's sincere but smothering ways. She wanders outside, where Alex is sitting. Alex would like to let this earlier version of Kate know that her "letter paramour" is here in person. Kate does not know who Alex is, as their relationship is in her future. However, the two share a dance and a romantic moment, but it is interrupted by Morgan and Mona.

Later, they discuss the birthday party, and she reveals to Alex that she liked him that night. This is the first time she remembers what he looks like.

Crisis enters Alex's life when his estranged father has a heart attack and shortly thereafter dies. Kate somehow discovers his death certificate at the time he dies. She rushes to the mailbox and as a gift to Alex, she places a book in the mailbox: a tribute to Alex's father that Kate has obtained, not yet published in Alex's time. Alex weeps over his lost father.

Determined to bridge the distance between them at last and unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary connection, they tempt fate by arranging to meet. Alex makes a reservation in 2004 for a date in 2006 at Il Mare, a fancy restaurant (an homage to the original Korean motion picture),but only Kate appears. Alex does not show up. The next day Kate writes Alex a letter telling Alex of this fact, but he doesn't understand. "Something must have happened" he responds. Kate retreats, believing she will never have happiness. She urges Alex to move on. She asks Alex not to contact her again. Alex is brokenhearted and decides to leave the lake house. He moves into the city. Kate renews her relationship with Morgan, but doesn't appear to be happy. She and Alex do not exchange letters.

Alex appears to Morgan (in real time) and hands him the keys to the lake house. At this time Jack the dog seems to be left with Morgan and now becomes Kate's dog. Alex drives off.

One afternoon, Kate is watching an old movie in one room while Morgan is working in another room in Kates upscale apartment. Preturbed when Morgan asks her to turn the TV down, she turns it OFF and irritated, walks into their bedroom where a squeeky floorboard finally gets her attention. She stomps on it and it completely comes off revealing a small package hidden underneath. It is her Jane Austin book that Alex has carefully left during the construction phase of her unit. He has left a flower marking a specific piece of text that touches Kate's heart. She realizes she still loves Alex.

New years 2006 finds Alex at some party sadly overlooking the city. It is New years 2008 for Kate.


On Valentines Day 2008 Kate and Morgan arrange to meet at an architectural firm unknowningly owned by Alex's brother. They are renovating an old house. As they exit Kate notices a drawing on the wall of the lake house and inquires as to its artist. When told it is Alex Wyler, she asks as to his whereabouts and is told he died in an accident 2 years ago this day. This explains why Alex didn't show up at the restaurant. He had already "died". Kate now puts everything together and dashes out of the office and races to the lake house and frantically warns Alex via the mailbox that HE is the man who "died in her arms" that day. She does not know if he will receive it in time or not. She tells him NOT to go to the plaza but to wait 2 years and go to the lake house--where she is now. For the first time she expresses her love for him. He receives the letter in time, and sees her in the plaza but does not cross the street and escapes his original fate. Kate, weeping at the mail box, hears somebody drive up to the lake house. It is Alex. In the end of the movie, Alex and Kate share a passionate kiss.

Chronological order of events

NOTE the use of bold type below:
Note that Kate leaves her first letter to Alex in the rural mailbox in 2006,
and that Alex receives Kate's first letter in the same rural mailbox in 2004.
Note that Alex leaves his first letter to Kate in the rural mailbox in 2004,
and that Kate receives Alex's first letter in the same rural mailbox in 2006.
etc.

2004

  • Alex parks his pickup truck, and walks up to the edge of the parking lot in front of the lake house. Alex has just bought the lake house.
  • Alex's girl friend Mona talks to Alex at his construction site. Mona has just learned that Alex has bought the lake house.
  • Alex finds Kate's first letter in the mailbox. Alex returns to the lake house after dark, and finds the flag up on his rural mailbox. Although this scene appears to take place in 2004, Alex finds a letter in the mailbox that was placed there in 2006 by a woman named Kate Forster.
  • In the letter, Kate Forster claims to have previously lived at the lake house, and she apologizes for the paw prints at the front door. Kate says they were there when she moved in.
  • Alex checks for paw prints at the front door but there are none to be seen. Alex is confused by the letter, since he has just bought the lake house, and it had been abandoned for several years when he bought it.
  • At a later time, Alex is painting the handrails on the bridge leading to the front door, when a stray dog appears out of nowhere and walks through a tray of paint, creating paint paw prints that lead up to the front door of the lake house.
  • Alex replies to Kate's first letter. Alex replies to Kate's letter with one of his own. Alex places the letter in the lake house mailbox, after which he places the flag up on the mailbox.
  • After have been away for several years, Alex meets his brother Henry and informs him that he has bought a lake house, which he defines as "a dump that has been abandoned for years".
  • Alex tells Henry "I even got a dog. He just showed up at the house from out on nowhere." (This stray dog was later given to Kate, who named it "Jack".)
  • Alex finds property that originally belonged to his father, in the attic of the lake house. When Alex brings this property to his father, his father informs him that he was already aware that he [e.g. Alex] had purchased the lake house.
  • Jack runs away. Alex abandons the lake house and gives the key to Morgan, so Kate can rent it.
  • Jack is found by Kate's boyfriend who assumingly gives Jack to Kate. Kate moves in.

2006

  • First event of the movie. Kate Forster walks out of the front door of the lake house with her dog Jack and they both walk to Kate's Ford Mustang.
  • Kate leaves a letter [her first] in the rural mailbox. In the letter Kate apologizes for the paw prints leading to the front door, and for the box that was left in the lake house attic.
  • On Valentine's Day, 2006 Kate witnesses a man dying in a traffic accident at Daley Plaza, in Chicago. Although she is a doctor and is on the scene within seconds, the man dies "in (her) arms," she later tells her lead doctor. Much later in the film we discover that it was Alex Wyler that died that day.
It appears obvious that immediately before the Valentine's Day accident at Daley Plaza,
Kate and Alex are both living in the same year [e.g. 2006].
  • The day after Alex is killed, Kate drives to the lake house with her dog, Jack. Kate doesn't see any signs that anyone is living in the lakehouse.
  • Kate receives her first letter from Alex. When Kate checks the mailbox [the flag is up] she notes that the letter she had left is missing, and another letter has been left in the mailbox that is addressed to her. Kate places the flag in the down position.
  • Kate reads most of the letter as she walks to her Mustang, with her dog Jack beside her. Kate sits in the front seat and finishes reading the letter.
  • At this point in the film, Kate somehow becomes aware that Alex thinks it is 2004 not 2006. Kate then starts to write a reply. In the reply she reminds Alex that it is 2006 not 2004.
  • As Kate starts to write, Alex become superimposed on the scene. Alex is standing at the rural mailbox [the flag is up]. Alex has opened the door of the mailbox and is checking a letter that he finds there. Neither Alex nor Kate can see each other. Alex reads the letter as he walks to the front door of the lake house. What he reads is what Kate is presently writing in the front seat of her car, yet Kate has not yet placed the letter in the mailbox.
  • Alex is totally confused, when he reads Kate's reminder that it is 2006 not 2004. Kate had written: "Oh, by the way it is 2006. Has been all year. Ask anyone."
  • While visiting the lake house on a weekend, she finds a response letter.
  • Alex and Kate correspond.
  • Kate waits at the Il Mare, but Alex does not appear.
  • Kate tells Alex not to write to her anymore.
  • Alex is alive and well at Midnight on December 31, 2005. He is present at a New Years Eve party, as the new year [e.g. 2006] arrives.
  • Alex and his brother Henry meet early in the day on February 14, 2006 . When Henry reminds Alex it is Valentine's Day, 2006, Alex gets into his pickup truck and races to the lake house. He gets on the ladder to the attic and searches for a specific letter from Kate that is stored there.
  • On Valentine's Day, Alex receives Kate's desperate message from 2008 and begins his two year wait.
  • Just before the end of the film, there is a replay of some of the events that occurred at Daley Plaza on February 14,2006, in the beginning of the film. During this replay of events that occurred previously, Alex is warned by Kate [who appears in the same positions she was in previously on February 14, 2006] NOT to cross the street, thus Alex is not hit by a bus in the replay.

2007

  • Kate rekindles her relationship with Morgan.

2008

  • On Valentine's Day, Kate and Morgan visit an architecture firm co-owned by Alex's brother, Henry. When Kate notices a sketch of the lake house, she asks Henry who made the sketch. He tells Kate that Alex did; she asks to speak to him, and Henry pauses and says sadly that Alex died two years ago on Valentine's Day. Kate asks where it happened. Henry reveals that Alex was killed by a bus at a plaza. Kate realises that Alex was the man who she had attempted to save, although she didn't know who he was.
  • Kate rushes to the Lake House and its mailbox. She leaves a desperate message in the mailbox, telling Alex not to come to meet her at the plaza, not to cross the street and just wait. She waits at the lake house.
  • Weeping, Kate almost fails to notice the telltale turning-down of the mailbox flag. She stands, turns around, and Alex appears in his pickup truck. She says "You waited", the two kiss and the movie ends.

Template:Endspoiler

Trivia

  • Throughout the film, both characters can be seen actually saying "2004" and "2002", but have been dubbed by Reeves and Bullock in post-production to be saying "2006" and "2004".[citation needed]
  • The address that Kate (Sandra Bullock) lives at in 2006, 1620 North Racine, is non-existent. While there is a North Racine Street in Chicago, North Racine does not run in the 1600N block of the city.
  • Il Mare is referenced in "The Lake House". It is the name of the restaurant that Kate Forester and Alex Wyler agree to meet at.
  • Although the actual Lake House was constructed for the film and dismantled after completion, it was photographed by the Google Earth satellite and can presently be seen at the following coordinates 41° 42' 49.92" N, 87° 53' 10.56" W. For ease of location, the Lake House is on Maple Lake and reached by turning off Archer Avenue (171) at 95th Street and taking the turning on the right after Wolf Road and before 104th Avenue. In the Google Earth picture, the production trailers can be seen on the approach road.
  • The following link shows a hybrid satellite view of Maple Lake and the approach road to the lake house.
  • According to Sandra Bullock, although the actual Lake House had running water, it did not have toilets.
  • Alex (Keanu Reeves) leaves a box in the attic, yet there appears to be no visible attic above the ceiling but below the roof of the house. This appears to contradict the strict definition of an attic as being above the ceiling, but below the roof. It is possible that the 'attic' is a storage area inside the main body of the house, beneath the ceiling and reached by climbing up from underneath the house.

Cast

Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves)

Soundtrack

Release date: 20 June 2006, by Lakeshore Records

Track listing

  1. "This Never Happened Before" - Paul McCartney
  2. "(I Can't Seem To) Make You Mine" - The Clientele
  3. "Time Has Told Me" - Nick Drake
  4. "Ant Farm" - Eels
  5. "It’s Too Late" - Carole King
  6. "The Lakehouse" - Rachel Portman
  7. "Pawprints" - Rachel Portman
  8. "Tough Week" - Rachel Portman
  9. "Mailbox" - Rachel Portman
  10. "Sunsets" - Rachel Portman
  11. "Alex's Father" - Rachel Portman
  12. "Il Mare" - Rachel Portman
  13. "Tell Me More" - Rachel Portman
  14. "She's Gone" - Rachel Portman
  15. "Wait For Me" - Rachel Portman
  16. "You Waited" - Rachel Portman
  17. "I Waited" - Rachel Portman

During the movie Reeves and Bullock dance in 2004 to the Paul McCartney song "This Never Happened Before", but this is anachronistic. The song was released in 2005 on McCartney's album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.

Songs appearing in the film, but not on the soundtrack

Songs associated with the film, but not in the film or on the soundtrack

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $13.6 million, ranking fourth in the United States box office. As of October 1, 2006, the movie has grossed $52,330,111 domestically, and $114,830,111 worldwide.[1]

On September 26, 2006, the movie became the first to be simultaneously released on DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD (courtesy of Warner Home Video).

Critical reception

According to the website Rotten Tomatoes, 2/3 of the critics gave the movie a negative review. Many critics have expressed dissatisfaction in the plot's internal logic. Alex breaks Kate's timeline twice during the film, leading some to interpret events as a time paradox. Other critics have ignored their doubts or have found no reason to follow a single-timeline interpretation of events. Positive reviews concentrate on the film's cinematography, use of Chicago architecture, and the depiction of the characters' feelings of loneliness and separation.

USA Today critic Claudia Puig wrote, "The Lake House is one of the more befuddling movies of recent years. The premise makes no sense, no matter how you turn it around in your head".

Roger Ebert, while pointing out the movie's logical inconsistencies, wrote, "Never mind, I tell you, never mind!" Ebert gave it a positive review, 3 1/2 stars of four, noting, "What I respond to in the movie is its fundamental romantic impulse."

On August 18, 2006 Reeves and Bullock won a Teen Choice Award for "Choice Liplock" for The Lake House.

File:The Lake House in DVD.jpg
The Lake House DVD (full screen version shown)

Interviews

References

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference BOMojo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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