The Lake House

I was very interested in this film starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock because it is the first major remake of a Korean film by Hollywood. Finally got a chance to see it.

Quick summary of the plot. A woman moves out of a house built on the lake. She leaves a letter in the mailbox for the next tenant to forward her mail to her new address. The man who next lives in the house receives the letter but is confused. Her letter is dated 2006, yet he lives in 2004. They are living 2 years apart and yet they can communicate through this magical mail box at the lake house. Through their correspondence they fall in love, but will a love that spans time really work?

Overall, the film was okay. It felt very "Hollywood"-ish. I like Keanu Reeves so you won't hear me complaining about his wooden acting like everyone else does and I think he does a good job here. Bullock too. The movie just doesn't have the same emotional pull as Il Mare however. The key scene where the girl realizes why the guy didn't go to meet her in 2 years....in the original Jeon Ji Hyeon really sold that scene and with the "Don't Say Goodbye" song playing in the background, it nearly brought a guy to tears! In The Lake House however, that crucial scene felt very truncated and cold.

And the ending is very Hollywood as well, leaving nothing to the imagination. At least the ending of Il Mare was more interesting.

But I did like how they named the one restaurant in the movie Il Mare. That was a nice touch.

I don't know, maybe I woulda liked it more had I not seen the original first. But remakes are bound to be compared to the originals and this one doesn't quite fit.