Keanu Reeves on Reuniting With Sandra Bullock for ‘Speed’: ‘That Bus Has Left’

Mark Deming

And today's award for best funny line from a guy not famous for being funny is … Keanu Reeves!

Reeves was in Toronto, Canada, Tuesday for the Toronto International Film Festival, one of the world's most prestigious film events, and when someone asked Keanu about his old pal Sandra Bullock, he pulled a good one out of the hat at a moment's notice!

Reeves is in Toronto promoting his new movie "Man of Tai Chi," in which he stars and, for the first time, also directs. It just so happens Bullock was also in Toronto, where her new sci-fi epic "Gravity" was knocking out audiences in its North American premiere screenings.

With the two friends and occasional co-stars both in town, an interviewer for OMG Insider asked Reeves, "Everybody always wants to know if you guys are getting together for another 'Speed' movie."

"Oh my gosh, no," Reeves quipped. "I think that bus has left."

Actually, Reeves already let the bus pass him by in 1997. While the original "Speed" was a major hit in 1994 that repositioned Reeves as an action star and gave Bullock her commercial breakthrough, three years later he decided not to sign on for the sequel, "Speed 2: Cruise Control." Bullock did, however, and the result was a critical and commercial disaster she'd probably rather forget.

But Reeves and Bullock worked together again in the 2006 romantic fantasy "The Lake House," and the two clearly enjoy each other's company. In interviews, Reeves had said, "Sandra's this energetic, wonderful, positive, talented person," and described her as "a girl with gumption, a feisty, pretty young thing." Bullock, meanwhile, has made it clear the feeling is mutual, calling Keanu "a very dashing leading man" and "suave and swashbuckling," and confessed that while making "The Lake House," she had fun sending him pics of her in a bikini. (Note to Keanu: Feel free to share some of those snaps of Sandy B. with us.)

Even if Reeves and Bullock did feel like getting back on the bus, they have to work out some scheduling issues. It turns out the two actors didn't cross paths in Toronto. Reeves told OMG, "I got here, she left." Besides, Reeves is busy promoting "Man of Tai Chi," in which he plays an American tai chi student lured into the world of underground fighting clubs in China.

So far, initial reviews of "Man of Tai Chi" are praising both the performance and the fighting skills of Tiger Chen (who worked as a stuntman and fight choreographer for the "Matrix" series and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), but Reeves is not getting good marks as a director. Variety's Maggie Lee said, "Reeves' workmanlike direction doesn't boast enough style or originality for this actioner to significantly cross over to the mainstream," and in the Hollywood Reporter, Clarence Tsui wrote, "Reeves could be charged for being too ambitious in his attempt to add too many layers to his long-gestated directorial debut."

Bullock is faring much better with her starring turn in Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity." The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy called it a "jaw-dropping space thriller," and said "Bullock is aces in by far the best film she's ever been in." Justin Chang in Variety also gives high praise to the film and it’s leading lady: "[Bullock] holds the screen effortlessly once 'Gravity' becomes a veritable one-woman show."

So it looks like Sandy B. is flying high, and maybe Keanu should consider catching the bus back from Toronto.

"Gravity" opens in theaters on October 4. "Man of Tai Chi" has already debuted in China, but no North American release date has been confirmed.

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