WINM Forums :: The Films of Keanu Reeves :: The Lake House

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The Lake House
LucaM
2014-06-14 17:37


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It's like assuming he sucks is now an Internet meme of its own.

It was a media meme before it became an internet meme :|
hence this website.

Freya
2015-04-27 16:34:06


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when searching for some ideas I found this
http://hookedonhouses.net/2011/02/13/how-they-built-a-glass-house-for-the-lake-house/
silver
2015-04-29 12:08:21


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Awww. Once again, I came to the party too late. Where was I like 1yr ago? Anyway I wanted to share somethings about the movie. (Things, that may or may not be taken nicely) Now remember, I'm a Keanu Reeves' fan, not a "hater".

So The Lake House is a cute movie. I even bought the dvd. I don't know what it is though about this movie. One moment these characters have good chemistry, and in another moment they seem to fall flat. With a movie like this, chemistry is key, because the movie isn't really plot-driven.

Example of good chemistry: The two main characters are sitting on the porch at Kate's birthday party. All through the previous party scenes, Alex has been trying to get her attention (the time traveling fact not fully dawning on him, that this version wouldn't remember him), so he is just wanting to talk to her. They talk, and he brings up the book. She explains the book, and there it is...a beat...and he says "Why do you like that" and she laughs. They laugh. That is my --favorite-- moment, it seemed natural.

Example of bad chemistry: Okay so this might not go well but here it goes. The ending. The last kiss we see. These two characters have been through so much together. He died in her arms. She felt that sadness. He waited for two years for her. She saved him. She was crying--hoping-- that he read that letter. She was hoping that she got there in time. And now all of that sadness, love, and feeling... it is there together. Him and her. They have finally found the time to be with each other, and that kiss just fell short from that highest point of emotional experience for them. Put it this way, you are writing to a guy who looks like Keanu Reeves. He has all the qualities you like. He writes you back. The feeling is mutual. You realize it was him who died in your arms on Valentines' Day. You have a chance to save him. You --Love-- him. He listens to you, and finds you. There you two are, standing in front of the each other. If you like women, imagine it is Sandra's character who is in front of you, after all of that. How do you feel? What do you do? Did those two actors discribe/show those feelings the way you just imagined? They didn't for me.


Now I love the acting skills of both Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock (who just was made the most beautiful woman by People Magazine, and she's 50. Killing it? I think she is), but there are points in this movie where their acting to me seems distant. Perhaps that's what the director was going for, I don't know.

example of performance for Keanu Reeves: Okay, so two points, The sneeze, and the crying.
Keanu's character has all these feelings about his dad, and how his dad treated their mom, like she meant nothing to him. I mean that is a lot to deal with. Then his dad's heart attack. Now he has the news, and Kate's delivery of the book. He sees that his dad really did have love for his children, for him. That moment, when he is (I guess) fighting back tears, just seemed like he was making noises, not actually crying at all. I think he could have done better. The sneeze, just seemed fake. (I know short answer, but it was a short observation).

example of performance for Sandra Bullock: Here you have this actress, who can do action, comedy, drama, and whatever else she puts her mind to. I bet she'll still be as loved when she's 90, as she is now. "Betty White" style beloved. Her character seems barely interested enough to be mildly annoyed with her environment. It is her character pretty much the entire time, just sort of there. This makes me question, what about Alex, made her fall for him, via a letter, in the first place?

On the movie: This movie is georgous like George. I love the idea. I dig that it is based off of an already established story. Who wouldn't want a chess playing dog named Jack? Who wouldn't want a Construction working-Keanu Reeves? Uh, yes please. I don't care about what plotholes can be gleaned from the string of scenes here or the sequences there. That doesn't matter to me.

What matters to me are reasons, motivations, and actions. Which all should come together in the Chance.
These two characters love each other. (motivations)
Why do they love each? True Love, I guess. (reasons)
What do they do, because of the above mentioned? (actions)

Then there is chance.
Kate and Alex find each other in their crazy loveless lives, they find each other.
They fall for each other. They, dare I say, yearn for each other.
They finally meet at Kate's birthday party. They talk. they laugh. They dance. They kiss.
They get caught.
Alex doesn't go any more to the house, where he --knows-- she is. She says "I like you. you should have said something," or something like that. He never goes back.
Why? Why with such a lovely reason, and such a strong motivation, would he not go back? The two men could have made a proper vie for Kate's womanly affections, with her permission of course. The movie, based on logical actions from characters, could have been different.

I'm aware that I have written something like a page, and no one asked for this. I apologize, maybe I went to too many film classes or something. Seriously I'm sorry, but I just have so much to say about Keanu's acting in general, and I can't seem to put that subject down. I can't seem to just be a fan sometimes...smh. I think I'm done, though I am fighting my urge to explain why I think Keanu Reeves' acting gets better with age like fine wine, using his performance in The Lake House compared to John Wick. Okay I won't do it. I won't. I won't.

LucaM
2015-04-29 21:50:50


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I think Keanu Reeves' acting gets better with age like fine wine

oh, but it does ;)

Just compare the two 'crying scenes' in the above mentioned movies. Quite a difference :)
Although, to be fair, the emotional moments are different. Alex fights conflicting emotions: he just discovered that his father did, after all, love his children, but the father has just died. Yes, Alex is fighting back tears; those noises are him failing at not crying.
John Wick is mourning the love of his life. Very different moment there.


Why with such a lovely reason, and such a strong motivation, would he not go back?
.
Personal opinion: because if he had gone back, he'd have changed the future; Kate's future. And then she wouldn't have moved into the house, then out of it, and left that letter; and then he wouldn't have replied to it, etc. At that moment, Kate wasn't ready. Because, let's remember, the Kate he meets at the birthday party is not the Kate he took on that afternoon walk to the most beautiful places in Chicago; not the Kate who was playing chess with Jack; not the Kate who was writing letters to someone from a different timeline (?) Most important, she hadn't lived in the lake house yet. Yeah, she would have been tangible, but not yet the Kate he had fallen in love with... and not yet the Kate who would, much later on, fall in love with him. Actually, Kate openly admits being in love with him only after she gives up on him, then sees the drawing and puts all the pieces together...
So he had to be patient and wait. One of them had to. And Kate was not the patient kind (maybe that's why her character is a doctor? :) )

Christine2015-04-30 03:51:19


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And Kate was not the patient kind (maybe that's why her character is a doctor? :)

Oh yes indeed! ;-)

Misty2015-04-30 03:55:26


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But his acting already good in earlier movies ... just watch River's Edge, My Own Private Idaho, Point Break, and some scenes in Johnny Mnemonic . By the way, I also feel something distant from Kate and Alex characters in the Lake House. But Kate was the most distant, while Alex had shown genuine interest for her.
silver
2015-04-30 04:52:09


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oh, but it does ;)

Lol I know right! I was just writing that I wanted to spare anyone the problem of reading another one of my long comments. XD Thinking of you all.


John Wick is mourning the love of his life. Very different moment there.

Sure I understand that the moments are different, but both characters were dealing with a variety of emotions, that were previously under the surface. Both characters in one moment, had to deal with the death of someone related to them. Those are the characters compared. I would use those two movies mentioned, only to compare Keanu's acting, and how it has only gotten better to me. Keanu Wine XD.



But his acting already good in earlier movies

Yup Misty, I agree. I wouldn't cheapen his previous work by saying something like "Oh he was only good in this movie" He has done way too much for that disrespect.
True Kate is most distant, good point.

I dig this discussion. Nice opinions all.

Freya
2015-04-30 16:27:30


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The Lake House is a cute movie. ... Now I love the acting skills of both Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.

It was a cute story. I do not know if Keanu is the best in the romantic comedies or maybe he is more like an action hero - there are more his movies of this kind but I liked that a bit 'fairy tale story'. Regarding his acting I found his playing very convincing (although I do not like when he plays a bad guy) and I am always looking forward to the new productions. I think that Sweet November was a movie when I looked more for the separate scenes. Maybe it is a question of 'the construction' of the whole story or sometimes interesting interiors in the background that I started to discover.



I think Keanu Reeves' acting gets better with age like fine wine

Everybody says that :)



So he had to be patient and wait.

Actually, I think he is a patient person. I mean in a real life :) - all these repeating the scenes, interviews, fans, etc.

Freya
2015-04-30 16:29:32


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5djX9LEb0yI
MaryAnn2015-04-30 17:00:45


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About the Birthday party scene, yes he wanted her attention. But he knew she didn't yet know him which is why he in the end he didn't say any thing. It was also an example of him yearning but waiting for a time that would be right. I think the architectural walk was a good example of how they fell in love in letters across time. I think Keanu, as Alex shows a marvelous yearning. I don't often see that yearning in movies by a man. This is of course contrasted by the way Kate keeps pulling back.

I have a theory that Keanu plays many variations of a type of person that some people just aren't familiar with. And, for those of us who are it just seems right. There is a book about misunderstandings between communication styles called "that's Not What I Meant ". I think there is something similar about emotional expressions. I see people who call him wooden, and I think how can they say that with all the emotion expressed in his face and postures. The scene where Alex cries after reading his fathers book is a perfect example. To me it seems just right because I could see and hear myself crying in the hospital stairwell when my father died. I've seen that scene contrasted with another such scene that I considered melodramatic and unrealistic. I may have been wrong. Maybe there really are people like that.

But for me, Keanu shows us characters that I can believe. And, I watch movies of types I might not normally to see how he brings the character to us.

About the final kiss scene, I think it is an example of something Keanu does especially well. Lots of movie kisses show lust and I have nothing against that, but he can show love in his kisses. Then when they hold each other cheek to cheek they show such comfort. It says we're together, we made it, we're safe.

2015-04-30 17:00:52
[ Post deleted by poster ]
Misty2015-04-30 19:51:55


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I hate it when people deleting posts that I haven't read, because it makes me curious. But maybe it is just a poke so what's the deal
MaryAnn2015-05-01 03:09:57


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I accidentally posted the post twice, so I deleted the second copy.
silver
2015-05-02 12:47:18


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I hate it when people deleting posts that I haven't read, because it makes me curious.

lol me too, but it has been solved, so I will stuff my curiousity back where it came from. I don't want to find out I'm a cat, the hard way, anyway. XD



I don't often see that yearning in movies by a man. This is of course contrasted by the way Kate keeps pulling back.

Yeah, good point.


To me it seems just right because I could see and hear myself crying in the hospital stairwell when my father died. I've seen that scene contrasted with another such scene that I considered melodramatic and unrealistic. I may have been wrong. Maybe there really are people like that.

Firstly, I'm sorry for your loss. I've experience the death of a few close family members, but never a parent, Praise God. I'm not knocking Reeves for anything. Secondly, to me, he seemed to be phoning that crying scene in. You see, he has shown a range of acting that set a standard for himself (In my uneducated opinion). I think he could have done better, because he has done better than that before.


I have a theory that Keanu plays many variations of a type of person that some people just aren't familiar with.

I wrote a theory pretty much like that in an article I wrote. It is called, "Keanu Reeves is a Genius". The link is here in the fan made section. Many of his characters internalizes feelings and thoughts, some audience members don't pick up on that.

LucaM
2015-05-02 17:07:14


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Secondly, to me, he seemed to be phoning that crying scene in. You see, he has shown a range of acting that set a standard for himself (In my uneducated opinion). I think he could have done better, because he has done better than that before.

Personally, the way I saw that scene, is that, exactly because he has done better than that before, this is how he intended for Alex to be. Before that moment, Alex was someone who could not forget or forgive his father, let alone cry for him. So those noises are the most Alex can let out.
Of course, this is just a personal opinion, based on my own reactions to grief...

allhailkingjack
2015-05-05 20:44:37


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It's a lot easier to understand Alex's grief and his expression of it if you have a complicated relationship with your father. Alex was feeling love and loss, yes, but he was also feeling the weight of years of his own regret and of his father's seeming rejection of him (or at least Alex's perception of it), and his realization that whatever hopes he had to mend his relationship with his father are now over and that he'll never get the closure he wants. Most painfully of all, he was wondering if, because of his early resentment of his father, he missed the signs of his father's love that were there all along, however poorly they might have shown themselves.

So. If that's how you have it with one of your parents, Keanu was perfection times infinity in those scenes.

allhailkingjack
2016-07-24 06:08:43


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Currently in obsessive-rewatch mode, because apparently for me there's no other kind. As Mary Ann said, I just love all the emotion he puts into romantic scenes. Other actors play sexiness and lust, but not him. He goes straight to the heart of it, and the physical factor is a natural and authentic byproduct of that. He might be the only actor I've seen who gets just how appealing and arousing that type and level of emotional vulnerability can be - although I'm sure that wasn't his reason for playing it that way.

It's nice to see too how well his scenes with Christopher Plummer hold up. They're a great match, and the way KR conveys the quiet, desperate pain Alex has lived with for decades is the perfect foil for Plummer's bluster and bravado.

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