Canter Bridge

This 1994 matchup of Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock would not be the last pairing of this couple. This fortunate outcome for movie viewers makes it even more fascinating to watch the chemistry between the two back in 1994 when they did not trip off the tongue easily as a twinned male-female leads.

The flashes of humor that pass between them in this flick are brilliant, all the more so because the bomb-rigged bus they’re maneuvering through LA, knowing that if bus and passengers will blow up if their speed goes below 50 mph, provides a death trap as a background.

The two wryly observe that relationships that begin under high-stress circumstances don’t last. This reviewer is glad to file Bullock and Reeves in Speed as an exception.

Dennis Hopper pulls a great turn as a heartless but very smart psycho terrorist. He’s only in it for the money, so the show can move on without having to get the audience up to speed on any complicated grievances flowing from the past into Hopper’s absurdly expressive brain.

Back to Reeves and Bullock, it’s almost preternatural how cool the former can appear and how girl-next-door the latter. A lot of cinematic water has flowed under the bridge since the first Speed back in the 90’s. Reeves’ and Bullocks repertoires have considerably expanded.

All the better than that such fun can come out of an evening’s watching how they established a relationship (in role and as actors) under this most stressful of circumstances.