.MOVIE LISTINGS | MOVIE REVIEW ARCHIVE | THEATER INFO Finding the Time Reeves and Bullock make temporal magic. BY MOLLY TEMPLETON THE LAKE HOUSE: Directed by Alejandro Agresti. Written by David Auburn, based on Il Mare by Eun-Jeong Kim and Ji-na Yeo. Music, Rachel Portman. Starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Christopher Plummer, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Dylan Walsh. Village Roadshow Pictures/Warner Bros., 2006. PG. 105 minutes. Sandra Bullock in The Lake House. Despite its odd premise, The Lake House is a surprisingly enjoyable romantic confection decorated with clever filming and a clear love for the city in which it's set. Alex (Keanu Reeves) and Kate (Sandra Bullock) are would-be lovers thwarted by the little problem of living two years apart. The setup shouldn't work, nor should the way they communicate, leaving letters in the apparently magical mailbox at the eponymous house, a glass-and-metal snowglobe outside Chicago. But — if you can refrain from poking too forcefully at the plot — it does work, thanks to a strong screenplay by David Auburn (Proof), the gentle, creative hand of director Alejandro Agresti and solid, winning performances from Reeves, Bullock and their lovely supporting cast. It's a nice change to see Keanu Reeves play an ordinary adult. As an architect with a difficult relationship with his father, Reeves seems comfortable and relaxed, like he's coming into his own as he passes 40. As lonely, work-fixated Chicago doctor Kate, Sandra Bullock mutes her earlier perkiness, offering instead wry smiles and dark eyes. Part of the movie's appeal is that it pauses for the details of everyday life, fleshing out its melancholy pair by showing them making dinner, having a drink with friends, chasing after a dog or snatching moments at work to take care of personal business. Intimate scenes alternate with surreal moments, like the one in which a tree, planted by Alex in his two-years-ago time, appears instantaneously in front of Kate's building as she runs in from the rain. The Lake House never fully explains its year-skipping magic, instead using the mysterious wrinkle in time between Alex and Kate to explore how people connect. Though the end is rather muddled (you may want the magic to make just a little more sense than it does), this grown-up romance about the unlikely magic of timing and connection is rich with books, buildings, letters, love and charm.
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