Jul 05, 2006 04:01 PM
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Dir: Alesandro Agresti. Cast: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Christopher Plummer. Speed freaks Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves suffer the ultimate comedown as they team again in this this tame time travel romance. It has been 12 years since their high-speed encounter with Dennis Hopper catapulted them into Hollywood's A-list.
They try to recapture their on-screen chemistry but sadly they're given a clunky script with such a blatant disregard for time/space logic that the film is annoying no matter how serious it's charms. Alex (Keanu Reeves) is a discontented architect dealing with an estranged father (Christopher Plummer, largely wasted in an underwritten role). Kate (Sandra Bullock) is a lonely doctor who recently ended an unsatisfying relationship. The link between them is the lakeside cabin Alex owns and Kate has lived in for the past two years. As the movie opens, she's moving out of the house and he moves back in. Before departing, Kate leaves behind a letter requesting the tenant to forward mail to her new address in Chicago. Alex is understandably confused since he had no idea anyone had been living in the lake house.
Even stranger, the mystery tenant dated her letter 2006 when it's actually 2004. Eventually he makes his way to her new flat only to discover it is still being built, with a completion date of 2006. Suddenly the penny dropsand the situation becomes clear- they're living two years apart. Talk about bad timing! Now, you would think this would be a cause for amazement. Hell, no. Our lovestruck penpals take it all in their stride and waste little time before falling for each other. After spending less than half an hour scribbling mush notes back and forth, these two are ready for a long-term commitment.
Unfortunately, this means the rest of the movie becomes a waiting game as they try to figure out a way to meet face-to-face. Alex does manage to come into contact with the 2004 version of Kate, but she has no idea who he is. Later on they plan to meet at a fancy restaurant in 2006, but she shows up and he doesn't. What could have happened to him in those intervening years? Another woman? A new job? Or are there more tragic reasons behind his no-show?
A tree planted in 2004 suddenly appears in 2006 when it would have been there all along. A dog it responds to a name given to it by an owner it hasn't had yet. Gaffes like this abound in this film and an early "symbolic" trauma is easy to peg as a later real-life event. In contrast to his stylish turn as Neo in The Matrix, a slightly gloomy Reeves hides his movie star looks under a hard hat and a scruffy parka. Bullock, on the other hand, fares much better with an under-written role, reminding us what an underrated actress she is.
I appreciate it is trying to tell a supernatural love story without falling into the schmaltz of Ghost. But there's getting away from the fact the script is like a chunk of Swiss cheese - riddled with holes. One puzzle remains though. Who'd want to live in a house that looks like it could sink into the drink any minute?
