The Lake House

So I watched The Lake House, as promised, just not on Monday night. (Don't worry. For all you concerned folk out there, I did not watch MNF. I avoided T.O. like the plague. Interestingly enough, it seems T.O. has been avoiding the football like the plague, as well. That Sean Taylor hit he took in Week 2 has concluded in the extreme shortening of his arms on those crossing routes. You gotta love the Alligator Arms. But seriously, he's becoming the Deion Sanders of wide receivers -- absolutely frightened to go across the middle.) My digression aside, we'll get back to The Lake House.

I can honestly say that before viewing this movie, I had my (many) reservations. I was ready, willing and well-armed with substantial amounts of vitriol should this movie display even an ounce of horrendous material. My tirade was prepared. I was going to bludgeon this movie for wasting 90+ minutes of my time. An impartial observer, I was not. But alas, a phillipic I could not produce following the viewing of this film starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu "Neo" Reeves. Did I like the movie? The short answer to that is, "not really." But, that should be qualified a bit further. First of all, the movie is not horrible. (And if you want a real review, see Stephen Hunter's of The Washington Post. He's the only critic I'll read.) The premise is awful, the acting is pretty good and denouement is confusing and wholly expected. Still, the characters are well developed, which helps this movie a great deal because, as has been said, the movie's central theme -- the passing of letters through a magical mailbox that defies all laws of physics and time and space -- is silly. It's a decent flick that isn't completely horrendous nor utterly fantastic. It plays right down the middle. Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of the film is Reeves's more-than-adequate, and almost believable, turn as Alex. He was tolerable, which for him equates to an award-winning performance.

And although I didn't watch it on Monday night, I can say The Lake House was better than any programming that invovles T.O.