Serving Sara
Catch it on HBO
I love Matthew Perry, and this film cannot detract from that love, because nothing Matthew did in this film (save have to take a break for rehab) was wrong or inappropriate. The same goes for Bruce Campbell, who is a genre unto himself, and did right by the oil tycoons of the fair state of Texas. Elizabeth Hurley, who has the capacity to be very funny and sexy at the same time, managed not to be much of either, so my suspicion is that she just wasn't having any fun. I am personally convinced that most of what didn't work in this film was editing, anyway. Oh, and some of what Cedric the Entertainer does could have been edited out.
That said, I can say the film was cute and uneven, but mostly uneven. As a lesson plan for delivering lines, Matthew Perry is a master with any material. As a lesson plan for screenwriting or "dramatic pauses" or "plausible romance," this is not the film for a teaching curriculum.
The short version is that Perry and Vincent Pastore work for Cedric the Entertainer, deviously competing to be the best process server. Perry gets the job to serve Sara (Hurley) with divorce papers, and wackiness ensues. Her husband, Bruce Campbell, is out to cheat her out of millions of his own dollars, or something like that, but he's a bad man, don't you worry. Anyway, along the way, Hurley's amazing abdomen and Perry's amazing parries land them in a soup of romance, kind of, but of course, things keep happening. It's not the worst idea for a story, but I think if I had seen the director Reginald Hudlin's filmography, I might not have expected The Whole Nine Yards again. Yeesh.
Some of the dialogue stumbles; PR relations for Texas and the rest of the world continue to be set back by decades, and there's a pretty kickin' (if random and unrelated) soundtrack. And is that Mike Judge whom Sara shows her rack to in the preview? He is uncredited in the credits or on IMDB so I'll have to go by the voice and say yep. PS, no you don't ever get to see them.
The most heartbreaking thing may be the make up department's determination to not let us know which shots were before Perry's "sabbatical" and which were after; he always looks very disheveled, piqued, and worn out, which made me sad. He is a tremendously funny and witty actor, cute enough to be believable in a romance with a hottie but also "regular" enough to not be unrealistic as a straight man. Serving Sara is so close to what could have been a fun little diversion that it makes the parts that don't work hurt more than they really should on their own. See it for Matthew, but don't let the studio get your money.
-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These reviews (c) 2002 Karina Montgomery. Please feel free to forward but just credit the reviewer in the text. Thanks. reviews@cinerina.com Check out previous reviews at: http://www.cinerina.com http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com - the Online Film Critics Society http://www.hsbr.net/reviews/karina/ - Hollywood Stock Exchange Brokerage Resource http://www.mediamotions.com and http://www.capitol-city.com
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