(Continued from yesterday’s post).

Mark it on your calendars, True Believers, because I’m about to admit publicly that I like a chick flick.

(gasp!)

I originally thought about using The Princess Bride (one of my favorite films) as an example of a “chick flick” I like, but then I realized it was equal parts “chick flick” and “guy movie.” So, I would classify it a romantic fantasy/adventure/comedy. (The movie defies classification, but I digress).

With that said, I opted for The Lake House, a 2006 romance film starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. The movie was disliked by critics, and unfairly so. They criticized some internal inconsistencies with its plot, but let’s be honest: it’s hard to write a time-travel story that is completely airtight.

Yes, it involves time-travel. The fantastical element is one of the things that intrigued me about it. It tells the story of an architect and a doctor who live in the same house but two years apart, and how they fall in love by writing letters to each other through a time-warping mailbox.

(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!)

The first thing that strikes me about this story is how the couple never meets until late in the movie. Until then, their only interaction is through correspondence (lending credence to long-distance relationships). So, their relationship is at first free of physical lust (which is often confused for love in many “romantic” stories). They connect on a deep, personal level through their letters. They even find clever ways to interact, such as Alex (the architect) taking Kate (the doctor) on a time-delayed tour of Chicago with one of his letters (he even spray-paints an endearing message on a wall for her). They finally meet when Alex goes to a party Kate attended two years before—when she was with another man. He meets her, deeply in love with her, but she has no idea who he is, and he can’t tell her who he is.

They continue to write each other and decide to meet at restaurant on Valentine’s Day. Kate will only have to wait one day, but Alex will have to wait two years. Kate arrives, but Alex never shows. Heartbroken, she writes a letter to Alex saying not to write her anymore and recounts the story of how, one year prior, she witnessed a car accident and the driver, a young man, died in her arms. The two leave the lake house and go their separate ways.

One year later (2006 for Alex and 2008 for Kate), Alex returns to the house because something triggers his memory. Kate, meanwhile, is talking with another architect and learns that Alex had died two years earlier—that he was the man whose death she witnessed! That’s why he didn’t show up at the restaurant. She rushes back to the lake house and frantically writes him a letter saying she loves him and tells him to wait two years and meet her at the lake house instead. She stuffs it in the mailbox. Did he get it? The flag drops—he’d received it.

A vehicle pulls up. A man walks toward her. Alex! “You waited,” Kate says. Then, after four years, they finally kiss.

Despite what the critics say, this is a magnificent love story. The love is deep. How many people have the patience and commitment to wait four years to meet their true love after they “found” them? Four years! Think about that: they were so dedicated to each other, so patient, that they endured the pain of waiting to see each other for four full years! (Although, while noble, it pales by comparison to another couple I’ll be writing about later this week). Alex had to suffer seeing the woman he loved but she didn’t love him, at least not yet. He could’ve been selfish and tried to take her then, but it would’ve ruined everything. Kate had to watch Alex die and later be “stood up,” only to learn later what happened. These two wouldn’t let their circumstances keep them apart. As strange as everything was, they overcame every obstacle thrown at them. It wasn’t easy. True love never is. It must be tested. That’s how its authenticity can be proven.

So, there you have it: my favorite “chick flick.” It’d make a great date movie this Valentine’s Day. Go rent it now! Ah, heck, buy it!

NEXT TIME ON “TRUE ROMANCE”:  A manga romance! (A “mangamance”?)