The Lake House [DVD] [2006]

`The Lake House' is a romantic drama about two lonely characters - Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves) and Kate Forster (Sandra Bullock) . Alex owns a glass lake house on the outskirts of Chicago and when he moves out, Kate begins to rent it from him. When Alex first moves in he finds a letter in the mailbox from Kate with details about the house. They return numerous letters to one another and it turns out that Kate is living two years in the future from Alex. A deep love affair begins through the letters and their eagerness to meet each other becomes too much. But how can the lovers with time holding them apart finally get together?

I'm not much of a fan of romance films, so I must admit when my girlfriend put this in the player to watch last night I wasn't too happy, but as we'd already seen Indiana Jones and Transformers that weekend, I thought it was best to go along with it and keep my mouth shut. By the end of the film I was so surprised with how much I actually enjoyed the film. The characters were all very good and likeable and the whole question of how they will ever meet each other was extremely tense and exciting. There was a few bits that were fairly obvious in the storyline, which after seeing the end, made me wonder if they were intentional as they worked on these points and gave them a really good twist at the end. Also (like when watching Back to the Future), some of the story made my head hurt when thinking about it too much (such as naming the dog), so I'd recommend not thinking about it that much as it will have you going round in circles!

The picture and sound quality were absolutely superb, as I'd expect from Blu Ray and in particular Warner Brothers, who seem to be the best when it comes to quality of Blu Ray discs.

Overall this is a beautiful and engrossing story that is fairly short, so doesn't have enough time to drag on at all. Definitely one I'd recommend for a cosy night in and one that I'll be watching again and will recommend to others.

You know you've watched your favourite film when, after watching it for maybe the dozenth time, it remains just as fresh and relevant as the first time you popped it into the dvd player.

If you are a true romantic then this will blow you away. It has all the true makings of a classic love story with a twist. References are made to two other classics within the film 'Notorious' with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman and the novel 'Persuasion' by Jane Austen, the latter becoming a link between the two main characters Alex and Kate.

It can certainly not be called predictable as you are left wondering till the very end what the outcome will be. Filmed in a minimalistic kind of way, the subtle yet powerful way the story unfolds will be in your thoughts for hours, even days, after you have watched it.

I disagree with person before me. Although the review very well explains the film, and I got the feeling that the film was liked, it was still given only 2 stars.

I, on the other hand, found this film very romantic and beautifully shot, the acting is really good! The film is full of surprises and you never know what next page of their correspondence is going to bring you. You can feel their love, their joy and their pain... This film is one of the rare ones that make you feel like you in there with them, it's open but intimate enough...

The feeling that they share, being single and lonely and of alike minds, I wish I had a soulmate like that somewhere, even if 2 years apart...

It reminded me "Sweet November" and "City of Angels", got the same feeling to it... Love story with sadness to it, and impossibility being together... Although in Lake House they got together in the end, and I'm so happy for them.

If you like that kind of film, you will definitely love this one, I highly recommend it!