Talk about your long-distance relationships.

	An old-fashioned romance blossoms between Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Click photo for larger image. 'The Lake House' Rating: PG for some language and a disturbing image. Starring: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock. Director: Alejandro Agresti. Web site: thelakehousemovie.warnerbros.com Family Film Guide

It has nothing to do with the hours -- by plane, train or automobile -- it takes Kate (Sandra Bullock) to reach Alex (Keanu Reeves) in "The Lake House." Kate lives in the year 2006 and Alex in 2004, but through some rip in the space-time continuum that Mr. Spock or Al Gore should analyze, they can communicate.

In a nod to old-fashioned romance that eschews e-mail, text messages and cell phones, they write each other letters in long hand and deposit them in a mailbox outside the lake house they occupy in their respective years. He can slide a note inside in 2004 and put up the flag and she can remove it, in 2006.

Don't ask me to explain it further because it's a romantic fantasy, inspired by a South Korean film, and just how it happens remains a mystery. The story has been transported to modern-day Chicago and reunites the stars of "Speed," who do some of their best work together, although they don't get to share much actual screen time.

The glass lake house, which rests on supports above the water, was built by Alex's famous father (Christopher Plummer), an architect, in happier days. Alex and his brother are both architects while Kate is a physician, which had been her father's dream and eventually hers.

"The Lake House" starts normally enough, with Kate leaving a note in the mailbox for the new tenant with some details about the home and her forwarding address. When Alex goes to the address, he finds her new digs are still 18 months from completion. A correspondence begins and, when they realize the time disparity, they ask the natural question, "Can this be happening?" And then, "Why not?"

The romance unfolds at a leisurely pace, as Alex is forced to examine how he's using his talent and Kate struggles with life and death inside and outside the hospital walls.

As if the movie needed to bolster its status as a chick flick, Kate counts Jane Austen's "Persuasion" as her favorite book and can't turn away from the TV when Alfred Hitchcock's "Notorious" pops up. Maybe the calendar crossing is really the MacGuffin (the plot point that seems important but really isn't) or maybe everything else is, or perhaps I've gone off the deep end of the lake.

There is no logical way to explain what's going on here -- or how any change in the past doesn't affect the future -- but "The Lake House" holds your interest because you wonder just how it's going to end. Will the couple finally unite, or will they take their lake lessons about waiting for love and move on, or will there be a third alternative?

Here's hoping that, with "Crash" and "Lake House," Bullock has left puffball romantic comedies such as "Two Weeks Notice" behind. She's good in a role that doesn't require her to be giggly, and Reeves seems more grounded, too, and more natural than opposite Diane Keaton in "Something's Gotta Give."

Small supporting roles are smartly filled by Plummer and "House of Sand and Fog" star Shohreh Aghdashloo as an experienced physician. Chicago and its environs get a nice showcase during a quick walking tour, which shines a light on architectural excellence.

"Lake House," directed by Argentina native Alejandro Agresti ("Valentin") and written by "Proof" playwright David Auburn, is low-key -- no sniffling due to joy or sadness -- but somewhat fascinating, even if it doesn't really make sense. But that's never stopped a filmmaker or moviegoer before.