The Lake House

[from trailer]

Kate:
It's kind of a long distance relationship.

[from trailer]

Alex:
Pick a place. I'll be there, I promise.

[from trailer]

Kate:
[voice over] Here's a little something for you. There was a freak blizzard in the spring of 2004. So, watch out for that April snow.

[from trailer]

Henry Wyler:
Do you have a girlfriend?

Alex:
Uh, you're going to think I'm crazy.

[from trailer]

Alex:
She's more real to me than anything I've ever known.

[from trailer]

Kate:
I sometimes feel as if I'm invisible, as if no one can see me at all. I never felt that way when I lived at the Lake House.

[from trailer]

Kate:
[voice over] Dear new tenant, welcome to your new home. I'm sure you'll love living here as much as I did.

Alex:
What do you mean lived here?

Kate:
Since no one has lived in this house for years.

[from trailer]

Kate:
[voice over] Ridiculous. For argument's sake, what day is it there?

Alex:
April 14th, 2004.

Kate:
No. It's April 14th, 2006.

Alex:
It's the same day two years apart.

[from trailer]

Kate:
Can this be happening?

Simon Wyler:
Where's your brother?

Alex:
I sent him away. He wasn't feeling well. You know how he is, he worries.

Simon Wyler:
Yeah, I know. He gets that from your mother, I'm afraid. She always worried too much.

Alex:
What are you looking at? [looking at architectural plans]

Simon Wyler:
Hmm? Oh, yeah, here, take a gander. It's a proposal for a museum.

Alex:
Who is it?

Simon Wyler:
Someone new.

Alex:
Oh, I like the walkways, where the light falls. What are the materials?

Simon Wyler:
Granite. Aluminum.

Alex:
White panels are straight out of Meier... but the interior color coming through the front windows, that's different. It's not new, but it's clean, uncluttered. I like it.

Simon Wyler:
When was the last time you were in Barcelona?

Alex:
Years ago, with you, Mom and Henry.

Simon Wyler:
Do you remember visiting Casa de la Caritat?

Alex:
The almshouse.

Simon Wyler:
That's right. You mentioned Meier. His Barcelona museum stands in the same area as Casa de la Caritat. It drinks the same light. Meier designed a series of louvered skylights to capture that light and cast it inward to illuminate the art within, but indirectly. And, that was important, because although light enhances art, it can also degrade it. But, you know all that already, you son of a gun. Now, this... where do you suppose this is to be built?

Alex:
I have no idea.

Simon Wyler:
Oh, but you said you liked it.

Alex:
Conceptually.

Simon Wyler:
Now, come on. You know as well as I do that the light in Barcelona is quite different from the light in Tokyo. And, the light in Tokyo is different from that in Prague. A truly great structure, one that is meant to stand the tests of time never disregards its environment. A serious architect takes that into account. He knows that if he wants presence, he must consult with nature. He must be captivated by the light. Always the light. Always.

Alex:
There should be a stairway down to the water, a porch, a deck. Here, you're in a - in a box. A glass box with a view to everything that's around you... but you can't touch it. No interconnection between you and what you're looking at.

Henry Wyler:
I don't know, you know. He's got this big maple growing right in the middle of the house.

Alex:
Containment. [He pushes a button which opens a glass door] Containment and control. This house is about ownership, not connection. I mean, it's beautiful. Seductive, even. But, it's incomplete. [He pauses] It was all about him. Dad knew how to build a house, not a home. But you know... I think he wants us to do what he couldn't. But, admitting that would mean admitting that he came up short in some way... that he could do more. And that tortures him.

Henry Wyler:
Do you remembering being here with Mom?

Alex:
I remember she tried to make it work here... with us... with him.

[from trailer]

Alex:
This house is about connections.

[from trailer]

Kate:
[from trailer] Even though this is clearly impossible, it's amazing.

[from trailer]

Alex:
[voice over] How's your sunset?

Kate:
It's perfect.

Alex:
I only wish you were here to share it with me.

[from trailer]

Kate:
I miss the Lake House. And its trees.

[from trailer]

Kate:
It's not meant to be.

Alex:
No, don't say that. Something must've happened.

Kate:
One man I can never meet. Him, I would like to give my whole heart to.

Kate Forster:
[to Alex] Call me on July 10, 2006 at... 9:05 PM.

[cell phone rings]

Kate Forster:
[hesitantly picks it up] Hello?

Morgan:
Kate. It's Morgan.

Hostess:
And when were you hoping to dine with us?

Alex:
Two years from tomorrow.

Hostess:
Two years from tomorrow?

Alex:
Yeah.

Hostess:
Two years?

Alex:
From tomorrow.

[to Morgan]

Kate Forster:
What is this, Jr. High?

[about meeting Kate in the future]

Alex Burnham:
I'll wait!

Alex:
Don't give up on me.

[last lines]

Kate:
You waited.

Kate:
He's not my boyfriend.

Alex:
What is he, then? Your brother?

Kate:
Oh, we have a comedian! What, did you eat clown for breakfast?

Alex:
Wonderful. Our first fight.

Simon Wyler:
Come on. Tell me. Where have you been?

Alex:
[a long pause] I've been trying to forget you and forgive you.

Simon Wyler:
Did you succeed?

Alex:
No.

Kate's Mother:
He sounds like a nice boy.

Kate:
[disbelievingly] Anything else?

Kate's Mother:
You mean the time-thing? That's just a detail.

Henry Wyler:
So, do you have a girlfriend?

Alex:
Er, no... no.

Henry Wyler:
You hesitated.

Kate's Mother:
You're so skinny now! Do you remember how you used to eat when you were a little girl? [mimics heavy eating]

Kate:
[surveying her new apartment] Fix the light. Get dog food. Get human food.

Morgan:
[interrupting Kate and Alex's kiss] Kate.

Kate:
[awkwardly] Um, Alex was just telling me about the lake house. Yeah, it sounds really great.

Morgan:
Great.

Kate:
It's nice. It's safe.

Anna Klyczynski:
Christ, he's in prison, isn't he? You're one of *those* women, aren't you?

Kate:
[to Jack the dog, while playing chess] You want to move that piece? Nice!

Alex:
[chasing his dog] Jack!

Morgan:
You should keep him on a leash.

Alex:
Her.

Kate:
My dog is eight years old, six in your time; skinny, has sad eyes, snores, and sleeps like a human.

Alex:
[after he saw her at the subway station in 2004] I don't know if you remember but, we saw each other. That is, I saw you. You never told me... how beautiful you were.

Kate:
Well, maybe you saw someone else. That was a bad hair year for me.

Alex:
Long brown hair, gentle unguarded eyes...

Kate:
OK, OK. You saw me. But I still don't know what you look like.

Kate:
It was you. Why didn't you tell me?

Alex:
You would've thought I was crazy or drunk. Or both.

Alex:
He could build a house. But he couldn't build a home.

Alex:
I'm an architect. I like to build.

Anna Klyczynski:
He must write one hell of a letter.

Alex:
I saw her. I kissed her. I love her.

Kate:
Okay, my mystery correspondent, I get it - just in case you really are where and when you think you are, you'll need this [he takes out a scarf from his mailbox] . There was a freak late snow and everyone got sick. So, plenty of rest, lots of fluids. Doctor's orders.

Alex:
[sarcastically] Snow. Right.

Kate:
I have to learn to live the life that I have got. Please don't write anymore. Don't try to find me. Let me let you go.

Alex:
What's it like in the year 2006?

Kate:
Well, I'm afraid the world's pretty much the same. Of course, we all dress in shiny metal jumpsuits and drive flying cars and no one talks anymore because we can read each other's minds... but, the truth is, from the past, not much has really changed in 2006.

Girl Patient:
My mom's last boyfriend was bald. He was nice, but she didn't marry him.

Kate:
No?

Girl Patient:
There's always something better coming around the corner. That's what she says...

Kate:
If she's not careful, she can spend her whole life waiting.

Alex:
I'm married too. I've got eight children and none of them look like me. I'm worried, Kate.

Kate:
I would be too.

Alex:
[chuckles] I'm single.

Kate:
Life is not a book, Alex. And it can be over in a second. I was having lunch with my mother at Daley Plaza and a man was killed right in front of me. He died in my arms. And I thought, "It can't end just like that on Valentine's Day." And I thought about all the people who love him, waiting at home, who will never see him again. And then I thought, "What if there is no one? What if you live your whole life and no one is waiting?"

Kate:
Now, tell me did you or did you not write each other?

Kate's Mother:
To your father?

Kate:
No, Clark Gable.

Alex:
You've got some nice pieces here.

Simon Wyler:
Oh, yeah. Music's fine, music helps. It's like Nietzche says... Life would be...

Alex:
Senseless with music.

Anna Klyczynski:
What's his name?

Kate:
Morgan.

Anna Klyczynski:
Morgan...mmm...that's a sexy name.

Kate:
[thinking out loud on the Loop] Maybe we should properly introduce ourselves. [guy folds his newspapers and applies breath mint]

Anna Klyczynski:
Kate, I'm going to tell you what I tell every young doctor. Hopefully you'll be the first to listen. On your day off, get as far away from this place as you can. Go someplace where you feel most like yourself.