The Lake House: Movie Review

ohh helll nah...

I'm disappointed in Sandra Bullock. She's had a run of decent movies. They weren't Oscar winners (but that's because no one gets an Oscar for comedy/romance anymore) but they weren't bad. This one WAS bad.

The trailer was only the best parts of the whole movie. And it was the only bit of good editing that was had for this film.


First of all...

• Acting:
  
  • Sandra...believable...some crappy lines...but somewhat believable.
    
  • Keanu...oh no. He was NOT believable at all. The only moment when it seemed natural was when he stumbled over words right before their first kiss. But the worst moment was when he kissed the letters before putting them in the box. That moment was VERY student film.
    
  • Keanu's Brother...oh did he have some bad lines...I'm sure he would have been better...but horrible lines
    
  • Dog...loved the dog..can I keep him?
    
  
  
  
• Directing:
  
  • Shot Choice...What the hell? Doesn't this Director know about the same-head-size thing?! There were TOO many conversations between people without competent matching shots. For example...Alex(Keanu's Character) and the girl at his work's first conversation. She's got a close up, he's got a wide shot? Why?! What's the purpose of that?! And again with Sandra's conversation with her mother about her dead father. WHY ISN"T IT A CLOSE-UP ON THE MOM?! Show the emotion! The CAMERA dictates what the audience sees and what they feel.
    
    
    
    
  • Camera Angles:...as horrible as the shot choices were...some of the camera angles were worse. In the above mentioned scene on the construction lot, why is the close up on the girl shot from below her looking down? I think this director has his unspoken cues mixed up. I'm sure his films are good in Argentina (where he's from)...but maybe he just had a hard time communicating to his crew (that was probably more American than anything) what he needed from them.
    
  
  
  
• Editing:
  
  • Scenes...the scenes were tooo long. Especially the scene introducing Keanu's father. It could have been cut cut shebang done. The brother was almost an inconsequential character he had little to no impact on the plot.
    
    
  • Screenplay:
    
    • Plot...oh dear were there HUGE gaping holes in the plot here. The time thing was not completely fleshed out. It complicates things when they know each other and would know the names. There are debates online about whether or not she would have recognized his brother's name when she hired him, and if she had actually changed the future by sending the letter or if it was already planned out.
      
      
      Clarifications would have been a nice thing, simple titles that could have clued the audience in to exactly how much time has passed. I wasn't sure if this movie took place over the period of years or months in 2006. It was not clear at all.
      
      
      She totally would have remembered the name of the guy that died...she would have signed the death certificate.
      
      
      The set up was too weak and not enough time or energy was put into how these two people would fall in love. And each time they wrote each other, how they did it was irrelevent and irresponsible. How can they have a conversation if she's only at the house on weekends. It was just crazy.
      
      
      
      This movie had sooo much potential. It is a great premise, and could have been great...really great.

I want to see the movie in the trailer. I might just go out and rent the Japanese movie it was based on. But save your money from this horror and see a student film instead...it's cheaper and a better use of your time.