The Lake House - Hollywood’s “Il Mare” and OH GOD, KEANU!
I loved the Korean movie “Il Mare” - who cared whether it was illogical or not? Come on people, it was a fantasy romance! I thought the entire story was well told with a few loopholes, but really who was counting? It was romantic and whimsical, with a number of touching moments that had me reach for my hanky, and voila! It satisfied the die-hard romantic floozy in me.
Imagine my exhilaration when it was announced that my beloved Keanu would be starring in the Hollywood remake of “Il Mare”. How perfect could it get? Ok, and Sandra Bullock would be starring opposite him, which I don’t really care. I haven’t seen him since his last vehicle, “Constantine” (drool), and I was sooooooo excited to watch him again. Never mind that the reviews lambasted the movie, and even it they rate the show zero, I would still go to watch him. Wild horses could not drag me away.
So Mr Boo drooled through half the movie, unfortunately (or fortunately!), not over Keanu, but he fell asleep. To give him credit, we watched a late show and he had been up very early. Keanu still looked very yummy considering he has already hit the big 4-0. Admittedly he looked older than he did in Speed or Matrix, like, oh, previously he looked 25 and now he looked 30. But well, I digress. Honestly, I never understood those critics who always slammed Keanu for his wooden acting. I mean, hallo?! not that he was given a lot of opportunity to emote in more than half of his movies, which required him to look cool and devastatingly handsome (and I am soooo not complaining). But in the Lake House, I think Keanu did really well. The scene where he realised that his father loved him and broke down after his father’s death was moving. The parts when he was with Sandra Bullock and he couldn’t tell her who he was - you could see and feel his frustration and pain. Give that man an Oscar!
Oh I almost forgot - the plot: A couple who lived two years apart in the same Lake House gets somewhat connected by a time-machine mailbox and started corresponding across time and fell in love as a result. The themes are all about human connection and waiting, waiting for the right person, and waiting for the right time. The Lake House is quite faithful to its original, except for the ending, which was actually more logical and better than “Il Mare”. However, “Il Mare” has a whimisical air which the Lake House could not quite re-create. In addition, Sandra Bullock, while she is good in the show, is not Jung Ji-Hyun. Still Keanu and Sandra work up quite a good chemistry, and all in all, I like the adaptation! So go see it!
Rating: 3.5 boos out of 5! (and 10 for Keanu!)
