The Lake House

A funny note from a friend who had to vent about The Lake House:

"Have you seen The Lake House yet? This movie mocks the intelligence of its audience while striving to confuse them with an ending that left people in my theater asking, “Who died?” It opens off with an honest, yet corny set up. Sandra Bullock moves out of this house of glass open a lake and goes to work in a hospital. Before leaving she drops a letter in the mailbox, which Keanu Reeves picks up. Of course we do not find out until 30 – 40 minutes into the movie that Reeves is in the past, two years in the past and this is a magical mailbox. Okay I can deal with that, and sure it was even a little funny when Bullock and Reeves stand by the mailbox in their respective times, watching the flag go up and down seemingly of its own accord as they each place notes inside. They can’t spend the whole 2 hours sitting at a mailbox though, so we follow them through their daily lives and now they are having conversational letters in the park, at the hospital, in their homes, and the mailbox is nowhere nearby. Did they suddenly find a way to instant message across time as well?

They take a walk through Chicago together, Reeves has placed a map in the mailbox with all his favorite buildings noted, and again they have conversation through the walk. First of all, in two years, you can’t tell me that something along that walk wouldn’t have changed! A new building constructed and blocking a particular view, a building reconstructed or torn down because of its age, this is the rhythm of the city. At the end of the walk, Reeves has spray painted a note to Bullock’s character on a brick wall thanking her for their walk together.

As the two fall in love they concoct ways to meet each other. All I could think about was why Bullock, being the one living in the future, didn’t pick up a phone book and call Reeves. He would have the memories of writing to her and wouldn’t think she was crazy for calling him. Reeves on the other hand, actually does stumble across Bullock in 2004, knows this is the woman he is in love with, but she has no idea who he is. The chance that she will believe him and not think he is a raving lunatic are slim to none. If the setting was 1865 or even 1901 I would be more apt to believe Bullock’s character would not at least try to find the love of her life in her current time period, but in 2006 there are too many resources to locate a person for me to believe she would just sit back and wait for time to catch up with them.

Now, the ending. The ending is all tied up with the beginning and the middle of the movie. This is where the older generation of viewers in my theater seemed to get mixed up. Early in the movie Bullock is having lunch in City Plaza and witnesses a man being hit by a bus. She valiantly tries to save him until the paramedics arrive; however, the unidentified man dies on the way to the hospital. Approximately two thirds of the way into the movie Bullock and Reeves make a date for July 2006. Bullock arrives at the restaurant and waits all night, but Reeves does not show up. At this point I realized Reeves was the man killed in the earlier accident scene, but no one else seemed to pick up on this. Bullock writes to Reeves and tells him it is over, she can’t wait for him anymore and to please stop writing to her. He begs her forgiveness, says something must have happened or he would have been there. She tells him the story of the man killed on Valentine’s Day that she wasn’t able to save and how it was all over in the blink of an eye. Flash forward to the end of the movie, Reeves is now living in 2006 and Bullock in 2008. Both have moved on with their lives. Reeves has started an architectural firm with his brother, Bullock has gotten back together with an on-again, off-again boyfriend and they are looking at remodeling an old brownstone. The architectural firm Bullock has chosen to do the work on the remodel happens to be the one owned by Reeves and her brother, which she does not know until she noticed a sketch of the lake house and asks who did it. Brother advises Reeves did and she gets excited, asks how she can contact him, only to be told he was killed in an accident two year ago today. It happens to be Valentine’s Day 2008. Bullock rushes to the lake house and drops a frantic note into the mailbox telling Reeves not to go to City Plaza, not to look for her, not to cross the street, to wait two years and meet her at the lake house. Cut to Reeves rushing through the city and standing on the sidewalk at City Plaza. He sees Bullock having her lunch and steps forward, then pulls her note from his pocket. He leans forward to step into the street then steps back just as the bus that would have killed him drives by. Cut back to the lake house, Bullock crouched on the ground clinging to the mailbox, sobbing, not knowing if her love is dead or alive. The rattle of an engine and that beat up old green truck rolls up the drive way. Slowly they walk toward each other. As if we haven’t waited long enough for them to meet and kiss this scene is played out in slow motion. Finally they fall into each other’s arms and kiss, fade to black.

Honestly, all I can say is 411!! It is a great invention and would have given them two more years to get to know each other. Also, if anyone else has a magical mailbox, please let me know. I would like to contact myself back in 2000 and provide some much needed advice."