Lake Effects

MOVIE DETAILS

Rating: 5.6 out of 10
Director: Michael McKay
Writer: Scott Winters, Michael McKay, Carolyn Miller
Star: Scottie Thompson, Jane Seymour, Madeline Zima
Genres: Comedy/Family/Romance
Release Date: May 6, 2012 (United States)

Lake Effects

August’s Genre Grandeur is “Family Vacation Films.” When we talk about this subject, usually happy times or fun destinations come to mind. Also, a family decides to go on these trips for the most part because they want to have fun. What if a family takes a vacation out of necessity? And what if it was not physically possible for them to take an actual trip?

Perhaps a “staycation” would have to do a figurative trip away from personal hardships, doubt, and stresses of everyday life. Such is the case with Lake Effects, the film I’ve chosen for this month’s event. Though Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia could be considered a vacation spot; that’s where our protagonist lives with her family. However due to some tragic events within their own household they are forced into taking time off from work/school/etcetera. Whether your next destination lies close by or across oceans remember its not where you go but who you take along with you that counts.

Things I liked about the film:

The acting: Around 2012 when this movie came out there were quite a few Hallmark films featuring Jane Seymour. Her roles have always been fun ones like Dear Prudence and Perfectly Prudence; or supporting cast members such as A Royal Christmas. But in Lake Effects she played Vivian and wow did she knock it out of the park! One thing we learn about Vivian is every Friday Ray gives her pink rose which becomes tradition between them throughout years of marriage until his passing away so now while cleaning out closet finds box fulls old roes given by him over time which leads into unexpected breakdown cry because all those bottled up emotions finally had chance escape after losing husband.

Another standout performance was Scottie Thompson as Sara who serves our story’s main character. In one scene they sit down at bar together –Sara orders something strong–Lily asks why strong drink? She says “It’s not every day your father dies.” Then after little bit more talking about dad sara says “remember when he told us he saw Bigfoot?” Once she says that her whole demeanor changes: face falls serious, no sugarcoating what she is saying; voice deepens & darkens as if trying get across some truth lily doesn’t want face hear

I was also pleasantly surprised by Ben Savage’s performance in Lake Effects. He played the character Carl which couldn’t be further from who we are used to seeing him as Corey Matthews on Boy Meets World or Girl Meets World. Carl is this super kooky guy who believes there’s mythical creature called a Smithy somewhere out there waiting be found.

So yeah he pretty much spends entire movie looking for Smithy but once finds it becomes even more awkward because now what? You see carl sitting tense couch being filmed nervously rubbing his knees together while giving answers during interview segment guesting national television show where host asks him question after another never really getting response out so finally just ends up saying something like “yeah well anyways let me tell ya ’bout MYSELF.”

The setting: Lake Effects’ closing credits reveal that the movie was “filmed entirely on location at Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia.” Never having heard of this place before watching the film, I was struck by its natural beauty. The movie begins with a shot of the sun rising over the lake. The peach-gray light of dawn bounces off the water, creating a serene glow. Aerial views of the lake are shown during the day, with its clear blue water surrounded by lush green lawns and trees that range from deep forest green to burnt orange. Topped with a cloudless sky, it’s hard to imagine a more inviting place!

What I didn’t like about the film:

On-the-nose music: As I’ve said before, music can be used to underscore what’s happening in a scene or heighten emotions between characters. Even if there are lyrics in the song (which there often are with Hallmark movies), those words should always match what we’re seeing on screen. But with Lake Effects, so much of the music was not just on the nose it was cringey.

One example comes when Sara and Lily are having drinks at a local restaurant and a live band is playing behind them singing something like “there’s a storm that’s brewing outside” and then two minutes later Sara tells Lily Ray’s secret and they get into an argument. This happens multiple times throughout the movie and each time it just makes me roll my eyes.

Inconsistent elements: There were some things about this story that didn’t make sense to me; one of them being technology. When Sara first arrives in Smith Mountain Lake she has trouble with her Bluetooth earpiece and says something like “is it still tin cans and string around here?” Yet two scenes later she takes a call on her cell phone while standing in her parents’ driveway.

Her phone seems to be working fine based on that short conversation. So Sara has a Bluetooth earpiece and a cell phone that looks like it’s from the early 2010s, but Carl gets a call on a flip-phone from the previous decade? And at one event there was even a cassette boombox. Huh? So I guess Hallmark forgot what year Lake Effects was supposed to take place in

Too many cliches: I reviewed JL Family Ranch: The Wedding Gift in 2020. One issue with that film was the amount of Hallmark movie cliches the story had. Lake Effects has the same problem. The 2012 production was filled with cliches commonly found in Hallmark Channel movies. Some of these cliches are the “woman from the city coming back to her small hometown” cliche, the “save the (insert establishment here)” cliche, the “business person is a jerk and/or out of touch” cliche, and the “small town festival conveniently taking place” cliche.

What frustrates me about Lake Effects is how it originally aired on what is now called Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. This second network has always made films that were more dramatic and serious than Hallmark Channel’s content. These cliches confused what this story was supposed to be about. Was this film meant to be a Hallmark Channel movie, but Hallmark ended up premiering it on their second channel? Or was Lake Effects always supposed to have a serious tone, border-lining Hallmark Hall of Fame?

So many story ideas: As I just said there were too many cliches in Lake Effects which means a lot of different stories could’ve been told within it. Because of the “save the (insert establishment here)” cliche part of this story revolved around Sara trying to save her family’s home. Since so much time was spent on this part other stories didn’t get developed as much as they should’ve been. In Smith Mountain Lake there was a group called the “She Doos”. They were women who took occasional trips on their jet-skis together. With them you had an interesting storyline waiting to happen but unfortunately it had to compete with several other ideas for attention.

My overall impression:

Lake Effects is not one of those hallmark movies you hear fans talking about. It’s one of those movies that seems to have been forgotten about as the years went on. I think now having seen it I understand why that was a little bit more. The title of it in 2012 is uninspiring. It doesn’t give you too much hope for an original story and you’re right not to expect one because this movie is filled with cliches. Lake Effects tries to adopt many different stories, but fails at each attempt. I will say the landscape and scenery was very pretty though so kudos to them on getting some aesthetically pleasing shots.

But as I’ve said before on 18 Cinema Lane, “the scenery can’t save you”. Like I’ve said a film’s script can make or break a production and if the script isn’t strong there is only so much a creative team can do to try and fix that issue. While watching Lake Effects there were a few story ideas in there trying to burst out from being covered by lackluster content but sadly they couldn’t reach above surface level because everything else going on around them was just so poorly done.

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