 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
The Lake House
- Review Date: September 24, 2006
- PG
- Genre: Drama
- 2006
Common Sense Media says
Corny romance will bore kids.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that the movie includes some sad spots where the wannabe romantic partners can't meet for years, only exchange letters. A young man fights with his father, then the father dies, which makes the son cry. A bus accident kills a pedestrian (you hear crash and see prone body afterwards) and upsets a female doctor who's on the scene. Characters drink in bars and at parties. A woman kisses a man who's not her fiancé, who's upset when he catches them.
What's the story?
At the start of this romance film, Kate (Sandra Bullock) and Alex (Keanu Reeves) exchange letters via a magic mailbox at the titular Chicago area lake house. He has just moved into the house, and she has just moved out. The rub is, he's living in 2004 and she's in 2006. As Kate and Alex fall in love, they also realize they are living in different years. They accept this oddity and begin to plot ways to find one another across time. When Alex tracks Kate down in 2004, before she knows he exists, Kate is engaged to an over-controlling man and wishing she knew someone more like Alex. Kate tells him she loves Jane Austen's Persuasion (a book about waiting), they look deeply into one another's eyes and share a camera-swirling kiss. And then: pffft. Though he knows who she is, Alex doesn't pursue Kate, leaving her to be unhappily engaged, as he is unhappy with himself. Here the structure of the film changes from their pensive voice-over letter writing into conversation as they go about their separate, split-screened lives.
Is it any good?
Evocative and sometimes lovely, THE LAKE HOUSE is all about waiting. While this refers to the central couple, it also affects viewers, who must wait for alternately obvious and illogical plot points to be resolved. Occasionally rewarding, this slow movement is sometimes annoying, and the switch from letter-writing-voice-over to conversation-and-split-screen is simply awkward.
Perhaps most disappointing is the movie's feeble use of the wondrous Shohreh Aghdashloo (X-Men:The Last Stand) as Anna, Kate's supervisor. When Anna observes that this mystery man "must write one hell of a letter" to warrant so much mooning, the movie briefly exposes its sense of humor. But his letters ("I'll find a way to be close to you, to take care of you") sound more like a Lifetime movie than Jane Austen.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the idea of falling in love through letters (or online!): what sorts of things do you learn about someone else through writing that you often don't learn face to face? What traits make Kate and Alex appealing to one another, even though they haven't seen each other? How can waiting and patience make relationships, whether romantic or familial, seem more worthwhile?
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AGE
Surprisingly Tame
While this movie does drag a bit and will bore the younger set, my 11-YO daughter found the concept of "love across time" to be quite interesting. Of course this is as corny a movie as you might imagine, but it was nice to be able to watch a movie without having to worry about inappropriate behavior by adults.
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AGE
I looooooooved this movie!
It was really good and there wasn't aanything bad in it. I don't know why someone put yellow for sexual content, cause there wasn't any.
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AGE
i don't understand why they called this movie corny!
this is a very sweet, one-of-a-kind movie. there is no sex, violence, or strong language, and the main characters are good people. but most kids (and some adults) may find it long and dull. interesting and visual; not for the whole family.
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AGE
A romance for your mind.
I was a little iffy about seeing this movie until my girlfriend (19) swayed my opinion about it and took me to the theater (I paid!).
At first I thought this was going to be a too-serious, heart-wrenching movie about a long distance relationship- only it wasn't. It was almost the opposite.
There were no drugs, sex, or anything objectable in this movie in my opinion; the drinking was far less than any child would witness at a family get-together (assuming wine or any other alcoholic beverage is present.)
The reason I WOULD NOT recommend this to ages <13, or even <18 for that matter, is not because of objectionable content, but only because of the storyline. If I had 13 year old children, they most probably -wouldn't get it.- I have rated it PG-13.
The space-time concept in this film challenged my mind more than the romance challenged my heart, and as a result, I would even recommend this movie to guy friends of mine.
This is a simple love story with an incredible time twist that will keep you thinking and saying "what if?" hours after the ending credits.
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AGE
Great love story
This is a great story, and if you like Somewhere In Time with Jane Seymore and Christopher Reeve, you'll probably like this one better. It has some great twists, but sometimes they are predictable. Still, a great movie with no sex!
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AGE
It Grows On You...
It is a bit disjointed and takes a while to put the pieces together, but after you leave the theater, it grows on you. I took a 14 and 16 year old with me. They both loved it...well, the 14 year old girl did. The 16 year old boy had a bit of trouble figuring out which time they were in...it does flip back and forth a bit. Could have really done more with that. The cussing is minimal and mostly not by the main characters. No sex, which was great. It was good. I'll see it again when it comes out on video.
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| Topics: | magic and fantasy |
| Studio: | Warner Bros. |
| Director: | Alejandro Agresti |
| Cast: | Christopher Plummer, Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Run time: | 888 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | June 16, 2006 |
| DVD release date: | September 26, 2006 |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
| MPAA explanation: | some language and a disturbing image |
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