Keanu Reeves' Forgotten Time Travel Movie With Sandra Bullock Is An Emotional Rollercoaster

Some movies are marketed as something totally different than what they actually are. Case in point — most of the advertising for 2006s "The Lake House" only lightly touched on the fact that it took place in two different times but was an otherwise standard romance. In fact, the Keanu Reeves/Sandra Bullock star vehicle was a high-concept affair following architect Alex Wyler (Reeves) and Dr. Kate Forster (Bullock), who stay in the same lake house two years apart. They correspond via a mailbox that sends letters not only across the time difference but to the specific point that each of them are at.

However, what begins as a sweet story about pen pals communicating across time soon takes several heartbreaking turns — including the revelation that Alex, who lives in the past, is dead in the present. When Kate discovers this, she comes up with a plan to prevent his death. We won't spoil the rest in case you haven't seen "The Lake House," and you should, as it's an underrated romantic drama with a unique twist at its center. 

Much hype was made for "The Lake House" being the first time Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock had starred in a movie together since the 1994 action thriller "Speed." A sequel was made to that movie, but only Bullock returned. Reeves opted out of reprising his role as he wanted to do more complex and varied work. Reeves was put in "movie jail" after turning down "Speed 2," being barred from starring in any Fox productions for several years.

The original "Speed" remains one of Sandra Bullock's best movies, so it's not surprising that she was initially eager to do "Speed 2: Cruise Control." But it was a flop at the box office and got ravaged by critics, so doing the movie tainted her career about as badly as turning it down did Reeves's. Of course, they both went on to do plenty of movies that were box office successes and/or critical darlings — with Bullock eventually winning an Oscar for her role in "The Blind Side" and Reeves headlining successful franchises like "The Matrix" and "John Wick." 

As for Reeves and Bullock working together again, a third film starring the duo from Amazon MGM, currently only labeled as a "romantic thriller," was announced in May 2025. Outside of its starring duo, the only other names attached to the project are "Speed" producer Mark Gordon and "Jackie" screenwriter Noah Oppenheim.