The Lake House

More than a decade after Speed, Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock reteam in the rather more sedate setting of director Alejandro Agresti's romantic fantasy. In 2006, a doctor (Bullock) moves out of her attractive Chicago lakeside home and begins a correspondence with its new occupant, a struggling architect (Reeves). It soon becomes apparent that these star-crossed lovers inhabit the same dwelling - but they're actually in different time zones separated by two years. Their sole means of communication is via the messages left in a magic mailbox. To its credit, this remake of Korean movie Siworae doesn't bother attempting to explain the hows and whys of it all. On the contrary, it sometimes makes over-contrived use of the fact that her present is his future and his present (2004) is her past. Essentially, this is the sort of film they just don't make any more: perhaps movie-makers think audiences are too cynical to accept its absurdities. But there's a surprising chemistry between the stars, especially in circumstances that mean they rarely share the same scene. Unfashionable it may be, but this is a sweet and entertaining yarn.