The Lake House vs. Il Mare

I popped in my HDDVD of The Lake House last night, wanting to compare this Hollywood remake of the Korean film Il Mare.

While The Lake House was a decent romance flick, I don't think it reached the depths of the original. Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves were fine in the lead roles and they kept some of the key plot points of the original, but I just wasn't feeling these characters as I did the ones in the original.

The end climax scene in particular is where you can feel a big dropoff in emotional commitment. The climax in Il Mare almost had me in tears whereas the one in The Lake House I felt was glossed over too quickly and too obvious. This key scene was also more heart wrenching in the original because the male lead was doing something as a favor to the female lead when the key event happens but this sense of self sacrifice is gone in the remake.

That being said, The Lake House is certainly a pretty film. Cinematography is gorgeous and it looks even better on HD! Some shots were downright gorgeous.

But as a film, the original is the better choice.

EDIT - Whoa....I was just doing a search on my blog for references to this movie and just realized that I've already reviewed this film! How's that? As I was watching it last night, I didn't even know that it was a film I'd already seen! That is so bizarre! I must be losing my mind! Well...at least it's good to know my opinion of the film hasn't changed! LOL