Kate and Alex, by means of handwritten letters placed in that mailbox (and read in back-and-forth voice-over to simulate real-time conversations), fall deeply and achingly in love. There is some competition for their affection. Alex is coolly, almost sadistically indifferent to a co-worker (Lynn Collins) who all but throws herself at his feet, while Kate has recently broken up with a perfectly decent but manifestly inadequate fiance (Dylan Walsh), who keeps showing up no matter what year it is. She also has a gentle mother (Willeke van Ammelrooy) and a wise boss (Shohreh Aghdashloo), who serve as confidantes, while Alex is burdened with an imperious, narcissistic father (Christopher Plummer), a famous architect who designed that strange, impractical house by the lake.
The contrivances of the plot, which may require occasional glance s at a multiyear date book, are smoothly handled by David Auburn's script and by Agresti's direction. Visually, The Lake House is elegant without being terribly showy, with a connoisseur's eye for Chicago's architectural glories. But 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.
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