European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 12, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse A a a 20th Century Fox Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock step on it in Speed which opens Friday on the cafes circuit. To Riding the bus remember the film is set in los Angeles because her Drivers License was revoked for speeding. One morning a vengeful psychopath Dennis Hopper a who else rigs her bus with explosives set to detonate if the bus slows Down to 50 Miles per hour. While a police officer Keanu Reeves tries to disarm the bomb Annie takes the wheel and careers through traffic. The bus was driven by a professional Driver hidden from the camera. But being in the hands of an expert provided Little Solace for Bullock a that bus was taken into on coming traffic. Cars were smashed that we did t think were going to be smashed. The other actors were sitting in the Back. If we hit something they had some travel time me in a the first one to go through the Windshield. Every Day i was exhausted because i thought i was going to die. But it made for some great reaction a calculated move on the part of the director Jan de Bont. A i Wolt Dnn to Tell her when a dumpster was coming and she had to swerve a he says. A i did no to want the actress to know too much in Advance what the effects were going to be because the reaction on her face would t look As with her sunny smile and Blunt Cut hair she looks like May Tyler Moore barrelling through the demolition Derby. A a there a a very Safe kind of sexuality about her a says Randa Haines who directed wrestling Ernest Hemingway in which Bullock plays a waitress opposite Robert Duvall. A a it a a mysterious thing. Wholesome sounds negative. But its wholesome in the sense that its womanly warm an drives toward Gutsy not Lusty by Jamie Diamond the new York times in Speed the actress Sandra Bullock takes the Drivers seat and commanders a los Angeles City bus. In love potion no. 9, she plays a research scientist. In demolition Man she shoots a bad Guy. While the Lithe 27-Ycar-old always gets the Guy romantically she has not yet had to play an empty headed object of desire. A maybe nobody a lusted for me maybe that s my problem a Bullock says As she sips her fifth cup of espresso in her sparsely furnished Home in the. Hollywood Hills a i have a big Mouth very Strong opinions and i always question authority figures. That comes out when i read for parts. Besides the object of desire is usually written in a Boring there a nothing Boring about her role in Speed just out in the United states and opening Friday on the cafes circuit. She plays Anniet who has sunk Friendly. Its not wandering around her cavernous House in sweat pants and a to shirt she stretches the shirt into an extra Large by pushing her fists against the inside of it. Bullock gives the impression of being comfortable. She has been in the Public Eye for most of her life. Her Mother was a German opera Singer and her father an opera coach from Alabama As a child when her Mother toured Germany Bullock went on stage with her. A you just stuck me Ini the opera covered me with some dirt and i was the Gypsy kid in the Back singing and getting paid for it a she family divided its time Between Nairn Borg and Washington. A it was a very heavy artistic atmosphere Quot she says a i came Home from school went to the conservatory for piano took Ballet lessons. So of course i rebelled like How did she rebel a i wrote in my diary. But that a because in a afraid of my dark Side afraid that once i get in ill never get Back out Quot she says her diverse heritage helped keep her in balance a a there a the european Side where i fee comfortable in any cultural situation and the Good old boy Side where i like my friends to come Over drink a couple of Beers and talk about after College Bullock moved to new York and worked As a waitress while trying to Start an acting career. Hollywood beckoned with a role in a science fiction television movie followed by a part in a Roger Corman film. Shortly thereafter Bullock appeared in films directed by Dale Launcr love potion no. 9 and Peter Bogdanovich the thing called love River Phoenix a last film. Bullock speculates that she has not been cast As a sex Kitten because she a too unconvincing in auditions Quot when they ask me to be sexy i panic i put on a tight dress and makeup. But when i doll myself up and make a conscious Effort to be attractive no one gives me a second glance. When in a at my most lost and vulnerable people say a you look i feel very comfortable playing the Klutz. I am a Klutz. But i done to find that to be an unattractive just As Many male actors prefer to play villains Over Bland Good Guys it seems some women enjoy playing goofballs Over sexy Femme who arc usually rendered interesting Only by virtue of being Fatale. Is there a Downside to being cast As the cheerful Ditz Quot the Kook satisfies the actor More a says Bullock. A but if you want to be commercially viable the sizzling hot leading ladies Are where its Hasni to she heard of Meg Ryan the excellence in Reeves and a Speed by Sara v00rhees Albuquerque . Tribune. Who knew All we had to go on were a series of oddly dissimilar characters an innocent Young Frenchman in dangerous liaisons a hip Fri agent in Point break a Young Prince in Little Buddha. Each role was a Little More laughable than the last because of the striking resemblance to a goofy teenage dude named Ted in Bill and teds excellent adventure. How could anyone have known that Keanu Reeves would reinvent himself As a thoroughly engaging action hero Reeves is the startling Star of the action thriller Speed and there is some question As the movie opens about whether hell be Able to make us forget his a most excellent Ted character. But before the first reel is finished it seems As if he has always saved people for a living. His character Jack is described by fellow swat teammate Jeff Daniels As a deeply you know this Guy. When everyone else on the Block is planning the funeral of the neighbourhood Kitty he a the one who leaps out of his car and climbs to the top of the tree to Rescue him. He a the consummate hero and when anyone is in danger he son automatic Pilot. He chomps his gum absentmindedly while he. Figures out How to execute his plan and his Success is one part courage several parts genuine concern for his Fellows equal parts skill and intelligence and about 10 parts just Plain nuts. Deeply nuts. He a different from the Schwarzenegger Willis Stallone hybrid that reigned in the �?T80s. He does no to strip off his shirt in 15 minutes to show us the Muscles he has built buffing up for the role. He san a Law shucks kind of hero sensitive and Apt to fall in love with a Beautiful woman a As Long As she Sas smart and As Brave As he is. The woman is Sandra Bullock who was Sylvester Stallone a naive but dependable 21st-Century doll in demolition Man. In Speed she sat the ready whenever Reeves needs a backup hero and she has All the funny lines Reeves is either too Busy risking his life to bother with on liners or incapable of dropping them convincingly. Together ivc and Bullock sort of morph into a modern action hero. This is a most excellent action adventure the kind of movie from which everyone emerges Black and Blue. The actors and stunt people Are Black and Blue because they be been jumping off buses and the audience is bruised because they be been grabbed and punched by their dates during All the exciting parts. Scrupps Howard nows service june 12, 1994 sunday Page 11
