Metascore
52 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 34 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 34
  2. Negative: 5 out of 34
  1. 88
    What I respond to in the movie is its fundamental romantic impulse.
  2. An enjoyably sudsy romance starring a moody Keanu Reeves, a broody Sandra Bullock, and the titular structure - a jewel box of glass and steel perched on stilts over Lake Michigan.
  3. The measure of this kind of movie is its seductiveness, not its logic, nor the ways in which it exploits the supernatural angle, and The Lake House is seductive.
  4. Bullock and Reeves have an unusual kind of charisma, one that works best when they're apart. Though the filmmakers sometimes put them in the same frame for visual ease, they mostly occupy different times.
  5. 75
    It's hard to overestimate what a job of work was accomplished here to keep this from being a catastrophe. But The Lake House, despite its dubious foundation, proves surprisingly sturdy.
  6. Bullock has abandoned all her usual cutesy mannerisms, and Reeves is as low-key and convincing as he's been in a role. Whatever else the film is, it's a competent and enjoyable star vehicle.
  7. 75
    Elegantly scripted by Pulitzer Prize-winner David Auburn, The Lake House never establishes any clear rules about how and when these strands of time can intertwine, but it succeeds at forging a bond between people who only know each other on the page.
  8. Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    70
    Deliriously stupid romantic time-travel drama.
  9. The movie is, above all, a showcase for its stars, who seem gratifyingly comfortable in their own skin and delighted to be in each other's company again, in another deeply silly, effortlessly entertaining movie.
  10. 70
    Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves are both such guarded celebrities that I have a hard time imagining them as lovers, a problem this Chicago-based romantic fantasy surmounted by isolating them from each other almost entirely.
  11. The time-warp romantic fantasy The Lake House is a puzzle that is maddeningly obtuse, emotionally overstretched, and virtually absent a sense of interior logic.
  12. 63
    Screenwriter David Auburn's awkward dialogue spells out the film's themes with painful literal-mindedness.
  13. Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    63
    How deeply silly is The Lake House? As silly as a movie about two letter-writing lovers separated by a wrinkle in time can be. How much sweet, dumb fun is it? More than you might want to admit.
  14. 63
    I am conflicted about this film. I like the fact that it takes chances. I appreciate that it's trying to do a supernatural love story without falling into the schmaltz of "Ghost." Yet I recognize that the screenplay is like Swiss cheese - riddled with hole.
  15. Reviewed by: Ethan Alter
    63
    Where the film falters is in Alejandro Agresti's overly deliberate direction, which threatens to drown the drama in amber sunsets and self-conscious camera framings. The film looks great, but it lacks spontaneity, an important element of the most memorable screen romances.
  16. Reviewed by: Ian Freer
    60
    A compelling idea delicately handled and neatly played, especially by Bullock. It just lacks the emotional directness to turn the good into the great.
  17. 60
    The Lake House is an example of the way bad movies can sometimes be more interesting than merely mediocre, workmanlike ones, and of the way they sometimes compel us even against our better judgment.
  18. 58
    If you haven't had enough of Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan weepies like "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993) and "You've Got Mail" (1998), The Lake House gives us Mopey in Chicago and You've Got Snail Mail.
  19. A slow-moving, never-igniting tale of calendar-crossed lovers that grows less convincing as it proceeds.
  20. Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    50
    This is a project whose elements, from concept to script to casting, refuse to follow the usual formulas, which is good, yet they never quite cohere.
  21. We also know the last time Keanu and Sandra shared the screen together. That was yesterday and Speed. This is today and Snail. I'm not betting on a tomorrow.
  22. There is a germ of a good idea in the notion that an imaginary suitor can be more powerful than a real one. But director Alejandro Agresti isn't the man to pull it off.
  23. 50
    By herself, Bullock isn't enough to hold up this enervating movie, which lumbers along ponderously until, at the end, it takes a giant leap into the suspension of disbelief that lost me altogether.
  24. A chronological brain-teaser confounding enough to keep you busy trying to figure out whether those holes are in the story or in your logic. But ultimately the movie is more interested in the love part of the equation than in the whole crazy, madcap physics part.
  25. Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    50
    Never quite sure what it wants to be -- a magical-mysterious love story, a psychodrama, a sprawling family saga, or an uneasy combination of these.
  26. The only real magic in The Lake House is that Kate and Alex have never heard of e-mail.
  27. Reviewed by: Toddy Burton
    40
    Don't try to figure out a time-travel movie, it will make your head hurt. And if the movie stars Keanu Reeves, all the more reason to just stop, slowly put common sense on the ground, and back away from your capacity for rational thought.
  28. 40
    Treading the same supernatural turf trampled by "Somewhere in Time" and "Frequency," director Alejandro Agresti's gooey, ostensibly spooky romance yarn The Lake House flounders less on its thudding familiarity than on its mood- killing dourness.
  29. The Lake House has the sensibility of something conceived by Stephen King after an overdose of chocolate-covered cherries and valentine cards. In other words, it's sugary sweet and based on a premise that's just -- no other word will do -- ridiculous.
  30. 38
    The Lake House overflows with heart-stopping thrills, if by ''thrills'' you mean ''watching attractive people wait around for letters to be delivered by mystical forces.'' Which, come to think of it, makes this romantic melodrama sound a lot more interesting than it is.
  31. 38
    A glacially paced, extremely moist, terminally gloomy and cliché-laden romantic drama with a supernatural twist.
  32. Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    38
    One of the more befuddling movies of recent years. The premise makes no sense, no matter how you turn it around in your head.
  33. Nothing stands up to scrutiny -- least of all the lethargic acting and the clumsy script. I was hot to trot for the exit halfway through, but a dogged sense of duty kept me stuck in an endless present.
  34. 25
    I can't believe that even the most rabid chick-flick masochists wouldn't gag on it.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 212 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 40 out of 77
  2. Negative: 31 out of 77
  1. Why are there so many idiots out there. You didn't like the movie, I get it....that is fine. But why are you saying its hard to follow/confusing?? For anyone looking for a short review, here it is. This isn't the best romantic film out there. But it is a little different than normal. Two lives unable to truly connect because they are separated by time. I wish they did things differently, but its not a film and is at least a 6/10. I'll do 7/10 because it is memorable, sweet, and you are rooting for the characters. Its drawn out on purpose...its called suspense people. If you want the couple to get together in the first 30 minutes what would be the point to the rest? Full Review »
  2. R.Lopez
    10
    We see romance flicks so often today that sometimes we don't bother to look for the underlining layers that define them, bad romances just use cheap sex scenes and sexual dialogue to past the time so that you won't be lost in the horrible script and bad acting. Good romances on the other hand have unshakable romantic stories that touch the heart and uplift he soul, they have acting that almost renders you speechless and an unimaginably great script and story that you just love. "The Lake House" has all the qualities of a great romantic drama and so much more. This supernatural love story is something of a stand alone in the modern romance genre it follows protocol down to almost every layer of Romance. But somewhere along the line it takes a really long detour down the path of unique and mind blowing. This film is nothing short of brilliant and remarkable I haven't enjoyed a good Romantic drama since "Titanic" and "Rome + Juliet", this film was extremely entertaining, very sweet and movingly touching to the point that your almost in tears. This movie has the makings of greatness but it's mired down by the people calling it clique, predictable, unoriginal and unmoving. But I'm sorry this film doesn't have cliques, it's unpredictable, it's very original, and it's extremely moving. It resonates with the heart and with the soul on a whole new level, it makes you feel great and gives you that sense of love and enjoyment that you've been searching for in a romantic drama. It's so beautiful and so touching that you just can't ignore the romantic freshness that resonates from this film as you watch the story unfold right in front of you, It's story and plot are so warm and gentle and I loved every single minute of it. And if your forgiving and open your mind and look past everything you see today and look at this film with fresh eyes and a born again sense of love and happiness, than I can promise you this film will conquer. All in all this film delivers a very romantic, very touching and very unique love story that just happens to transcend time itself. The Lake House delivers. Full Review »
  3. SergioI.
    10
    My girlfriend asked me to watch this movie and i did not. Then she got pissed so i watched it. This movie is great.! Everyone should watch this movie. Everyone! Time travel! Full Review »