Customer Reviews

Serving Sara

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This is a movie that potentially could be really entertaining, but just doesn't work. It's not awful, it is cute, there are a few genuinely funny moments and you won't waste your time watching it, but that's about it. There are a number of reasons for this.

The first is the writing. Besides the skimpy plot, there are some really implausible things going on here, the actors aren't presented with that much to work with, and sometimes it's so jarring that you simply fall out of the suspension of disbelief that you have to have to enjoy any film. A few examples: Matthew Perry wants to buy and run a winery in the Napa Valley. He pursues the opportunity to get a million dollars to accomplish this. A million dollars isn't even remotely enough money to start, let alone run one up there, and he's too dumb to know this. Remember, he couldn't have possibly anticipated how he would get more money at the end. He has no plan to actually get to his winery. Another example is having Elizabeth Hurley prance around in a T-shirt labled "Trailer Trash". There's no purpose to that, I guess it's supposed to be "funny".

Probably the biggest of many plot stupidities is when, because of an improbable lucky break, Perry's character has the opportunity to undo the damage he caused and easily salvage the whole thing if he reacts quickly. What's the first thing he does? Go out and do it before anything can go wrong? No, he phones the "other side" and brags about their mistake and what he's going to do! This is insane!

The direction is seviceable, but in many cases it looks like the actors were on their own, lacking a unified vision of what the film was suposed to be.

As far as the cast goes, Matthew Perry is a drag on the picture. That Elizabeth Hurley falls for him (Wow! what an unexpected development!) is totally unbelievable and illogical. Grateful, yes, but love? Part of this can be blamed on the awful writing. It doesn't help that his character is an unlikable idiot, but part of it is just him. We've seen this problem in other pictures. He has little chemistry with anyone else in the picture. He was good in the small enclosed environment of Friends, but doesn't seem to be able to be that memorable at anything else (ala Kelsey Grammer sans Fraiser). His timing is simply not that good. His chemistry with Elizabeth Hurley is zero.

Elizabeth Hurley: OK, she's still gorgeous. She still shows that deft sense of comedy timing that has appeared in other films. She suffers from lack of direction and from her costar's flatness. She essentially carries the relationship, even though Perry's character is more frantic. Sadly, she is essentially wasted in this picture. She gives as good a performance as can be expected given what she has to work with.

Bruce Campbell. Always a hoot, I wish he got more work. He plays the self-centered rich husband to perfection. There is a problem, though, here with casting. The setup is that he's dumping Elizabeth Hurley for a trophy wife. When you see the actress that is playing his "trophy-elect", you have a major disconnect. A guy with this ego, has a wife who looks like Elizabeth Hurley, who is clearly devoted to him, is going to dump her for the mistress as played here? Nothing against said actress. An egotist like Campbell's character might have an affair with her just because he's who he is, but he already has the "trophy". It doesn't play.

Cedric the Entertainer. Simply put, he steals the move. You smile whenever he's on. His character has got a personality in this movie, something the other principals lack due to writing and possibly direction. He probably just played the character the way he wanted and they just filmed. Heck! The movie would have been more believable (and fun) if he and Perry had swirched roles (Hurley could also have played off him much better).

To sum up, this is a diverting piece of fluff. It's not as awful as some reviewers and critics have said, but it is essentially a pleasant time-filler.

I've watched it until the end, I admit it. I seldom leaves a movie before its ending. But this was torture, sheer torture. What was I thinking when I rent this?

Simple. I tought: this has Elizabeth Hurley, georgeous as ever, azamingly beautiful. Also, here we have Matthew Perry, a good comic actor, even if you don't enjoy FRIENDS. So, what went wrong? Everything.

They have no chemistry togehter. The script is a bad mess full of bad jokes (the worst of them all being when Perry has to "help" a bull to get a full erection..... You will simply not believe what your eyes are seeing... One of the worst comedies ever!

Serving Sara was quite a disappointment, considering the makeup of the cast: Matthew Perry and Elizabeth Hurley, among others!
The two of them are gorgeous (as ALWAYS), but the acting is not great, the humor is very poor, and the plot is below average.
Though the potential for a good movie was definitely there it fails to take off. A shame really...
In a nutshell, it's just an ok movie, and that's about it; it lacks that extra something to put it over the top. No masterpiece here.

Matthew Perry stars as Joe Tyler, a frustrated process server, in this painfully long and unfunny romantic comedy. Joe hopes to rise in the ranks of his crummy job but finds himself being undermined at every turn by an obnoxious co-worker (Vincent Pastore) whom Joe's boss (Cedric The Entertainer) favors. When Gordon, a Texas millionaire, (Bruce Campbell) decides to serve his wife Sara (Elizabeth Hurley) divorce papers Joe sees his chance to finally get ahead. All he has to do is get to Sara before his co-worker can. This proves challenging for simple Joe. Finding her is one thing but actually catching her is another. When he does finally ambush her in one of her numerous homes she offers him a proposition. If he keeps her papers and helps her serve Gordon first she'll cut him in on her divorce settlement. The offer sounds tempting to Joe so off the duo go to Texas to nail Gordon.

Countless chase scenes ensue that are too ridiculous to be funny. Along the way we meet Gordon's sexy mistress (Amy Adams long before she co-starred with Streep. Twice.), watch as Pastore gets attacked/humiliated in every way possible, and finally, inevitably witness Joe and Sara fall in love. Hurley is hot and Perry is a likable and funny guy but neither one of them gets a chance to showcase their talents.

Despite a few chuckles and the presence of a hammy Bruce Campbell and a slumming, but sexy, Amy Adams there's nothing worth watching.

So far I was surprised with Matthew Perry's movies. They were better than the newspapers wrote. This movie isn't that great unfortunately. It's a romantic comedy but you don't really recognize anything going on between the two main protagonists. Also the storyline is not particularly funny either. You can see as well that Matthew Perry had a hard time while this was shot

Matthew Perry is a New York process server who, in trying to serve divorce papers to a Texas millionaire's trophy wife, gets sucked into her scheme to get revenge on her infidel husband.
The plot and script were amusing, and the cast was well chosen except for one actress - Elizabeth Hurley. Her sex appeal is her only asset in this film (would Sara Moore's pants have been torn off by an airport baggage claim conveyor belt if a less hot actress had played her? I think not.) Her acting is shallow and grows less and less tolerable with every viewing of this movie. Serving Sara could have been a very funny movie that could be enjoyed for years after, but instead will be abandoned as soon as it loses its "new release" status because of the mediocre acting of the second most major character. Sandra Bullock would have been an excellent choice for the role.
This film's screenwriter has obviously never been to Texas, and any Texan would be nauseated by the blatant inaccuracies and character portrayals. Even today, Texans are still portrayed in films as loud, unintelligent, overbearing, and materialistic. The scene where the attendees of a monster truck show whip out guns and begin firing on Gordon Moore once they are told he is carrying the Ebola virus is absurd (Texans don't carry guns around with them, we keep them at home). Also, regarding factual information, when the secretary points out Durango to Sara on a map to reveal Gordon's whereabouts, she points to central Texas, around Austin and San Antonio. Durango is a small, insignificant town in south Texas near the Mexican border. No one with money would hold property down there. Also, Gordon Moore may be stupid, but if he was stupid enough to try to farm in hilly, rocky central Texas, he wouldn't be worth $20 million.
I gave this movie 3 stars out of kindness, because with the right actress, it could have been something worth buying.

Joe the Process Server (Matthew Perry) has just "served Sara" (Elizabeth Hurley) with divorce papers in New York. Sara's 2-timing Texas husband (Bruce Campbell) is trying to cheat her out of her rightful settlement as well as sell off an entire company that belongs to her. Joe has a change of heart (he's bribed actually) and decides to help Sara serve her husband first, in Texas. Together, Joe and Sara begin a wild trip across the country.

This was just a cute story, but if you're a Hurley or Perry fan like I am, you'll enjoy their 100-mins. of antics.

Serving sarah is a silly comedy in the tradition of "There's something about marie." Using crude humor as an object for laughs. I went into this movie expection romantic comedy, which it wasn't. It was a gross-out comedy diguised as a romantic film. Funny and stupid, but alot of fun. Some well-written scenes and funny jokes.

Taking aside the fact the critics are usually wating to humiliate any movie starring any of the six FRIENDS stars, I must agree that htis movie was deservedly bashed. It's simply bad. It's not funny AT ALL. Perry is in good shape, but there is no history. I mean, there is a plot, but it is so uninspired, directe so robotically, without any real "grip" by the director. Hurley's acting is atrocious (but she is more beautiful than ever!)

This movie will be forgotten forever.

I cannot believe anyone could have found this turdfest funny or even interesting. This was one of the many, many examples of a waste of film and talent, well film anyway. First off it starts with one of those dubious legal things that seems to apply on TV and in the movies but I doubt has much chance of happening in the real world. It seems one has to serve divorce papers in person and if the servee can avoid the server, then the divorce isn't legal or something. This is cause for all manner of whacky hyjinx where someone is outrunning or hiding from someone with papers. I guess one could stay married forever if they can outrun the server. I think this is from a page of movie law like "double jeopardy," you can shoot your husband in broad daylight and it's legal, yeah...right. Of course we are treated to lots of goofy characters in New York (where Sarah is to be served) dumb Italians, a black man who resembles Don King etc. Soon the...plot thickens and we are down in Texas for some Texas sized stereotypes. Stetsons, cowpies and guns...oh my. This film expects us to believe that experienced ranch hands will think that a British women and a New Yorker driving a rented car are veterinarians "we forgot out equipment" they say, oh yeah and the bull needs help making little bulls so someone has to [help]....Ha ha ha. At least the bull had fun. This was one of those films where you truly feel sorry for everyone involved, especial Liz Hurley, she's pretty but lets face it, she's a little long in the tooth to be running around in a Daisy Duke, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader get up that Jennifer Love Hewtett wouldn't be caught dead in, and flashing her [breats] (from the rear) for a free motel room. For this lame story to work everyone had to be a complete moron, even in the end it seems the bad guys can't tell time allowing out heroes to save the day by going into a monster truck rally. No, I'm not kidding. My list of the 10 worst for 2002 has grown by one.