The Lake House
Posted by Ross
Sweet...merciful...lord...
You know which literary character would have really enjoyed this film? Dunbar from Catch-22. Dunbar, you see, was terrified of death. And because of this, he was only happy when he was miserable because when he was miserable he perceived time as going very slowly... unlike when one is happy and having a good time and it's all over way too soon.
SPOILERS
I'm not saying "Lake House" isn't a well-made movie. There is plenty of love and skill and heart. And David Auburn is a fine writer.
All I'm saying is every excruciating second of this film was a keen sort of agony.
I wonder if the reason the film offers up Jane Austen's Persuasion (Bullock's character's favoritest book) as a sort of nudge-nudge-wink-wink this story shares similarities with some classic literature you've heard of but never read was a way to deflect knee-jerk criticisms like the following:
The story could've been told in 30 minutes.
"The Lake House," sadly, clocks in at 105 minutes. The sweet embrace of death has never seemed so far away.
And the whole grand infinitum of the space-time continuum as explored in this film just seemed muddled, at best. Like Keanu stands her up for this date because he's been hit by a bus but then at the end she figures out that he was gonna die, so she writes him a note telling him that the Lybians are going to shoot him in the parking lot and... wait, which movie was I watching again?
While we're on the topic of the grand infinitum of the space-time continuum, isn't it just incredibly ironic that both protagonists happen to be well-educated, mannered, wealthy, and, of course, look like Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, respectively? And it's all so that the audience doesn't recoil when we see them making out at the end. Or maybe it's because the whole point of the movie is that these two people fell in love because they both loved this same lake house. And maybe people who love a place like this are genetically pre-determined to have movie star good looks and money in the bank.
Oh yeah, and another thing that annoyed me about the film is that back in his time, Keanu Reeves has this super-hot lady friend and she and him are about to get it on in his pick-up truck when the damn chess-playing (!) mangy dog cock blocks him by running away at the most inopportune moment. It's like, yeah, the reason the dog runs away is to further the plot and all that, but couldn't she have waited like seven more minutes?
Sweet...merciful...lord...
You know which literary character would have really enjoyed this film? Dunbar from Catch-22. Dunbar, you see, was terrified of death. And because of this, he was only happy when he was miserable because when he was miserable he perceived time as going very slowly... unlike when one is happy and having a good time and it's all over way too soon.
SPOILERS
I'm not saying "Lake House" isn't a well-made movie. There is plenty of love and skill and heart. And David Auburn is a fine writer.
All I'm saying is every excruciating second of this film was a keen sort of agony.
I wonder if the reason the film offers up Jane Austen's Persuasion (Bullock's character's favoritest book) as a sort of nudge-nudge-wink-wink this story shares similarities with some classic literature you've heard of but never read was a way to deflect knee-jerk criticisms like the following:
The story could've been told in 30 minutes.
"The Lake House," sadly, clocks in at 105 minutes. The sweet embrace of death has never seemed so far away.
And the whole grand infinitum of the space-time continuum as explored in this film just seemed muddled, at best. Like Keanu stands her up for this date because he's been hit by a bus but then at the end she figures out that he was gonna die, so she writes him a note telling him that the Lybians are going to shoot him in the parking lot and... wait, which movie was I watching again?
While we're on the topic of the grand infinitum of the space-time continuum, isn't it just incredibly ironic that both protagonists happen to be well-educated, mannered, wealthy, and, of course, look like Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, respectively? And it's all so that the audience doesn't recoil when we see them making out at the end. Or maybe it's because the whole point of the movie is that these two people fell in love because they both loved this same lake house. And maybe people who love a place like this are genetically pre-determined to have movie star good looks and money in the bank.
Oh yeah, and another thing that annoyed me about the film is that back in his time, Keanu Reeves has this super-hot lady friend and she and him are about to get it on in his pick-up truck when the damn chess-playing (!) mangy dog cock blocks him by running away at the most inopportune moment. It's like, yeah, the reason the dog runs away is to further the plot and all that, but couldn't she have waited like seven more minutes?
4 Comments:
I beg to differ with my esteemed colleague. I enjoyed "The Lakehouse." It is flawed to be sure, especialy the first act. Keanu's first exchange with his assistant/girl friend as she treks into the construction mud had me thinking I was in for a bad time. And the first scene with the magic mailbox flag all but turned me off completely. But then I got taken by the convoluted time/space continuum plot and the story of two people who are destined for each other. As Ross suggests having rich, beautiful people playing rich, beautiful people is always problematic, but, hey, that's show biz. And while Reeves and Bullock fit the bill as 21st century stars, they are no Bogie and Bergman, or, even, Coleman and Garson who starred in the great 1940s convoluted amnesia plot love story "Random Harvest," which "The Lakehouse" fondly reminded me of.
Gary Coleman was in "Random Harvest"?
Vince Coleman!
I enjoyeed reading this
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