Reel News - 'Serving Sara'

Reviewed by Justin Colburn & Keayn Dunya

Matthew Perry: Joe Tyler

Elizabeth Hurley: Sara Moore

Bruce Campbell: Gordon Moore

Amy Adams: Kate

Vincent Pastore: Tony

Cedric the Entertainer: Ray Harris

Jerry Stiller: Milton the Cop

Joe Tyler (Matthew Perry, Friends) is in a race with his co-worker, Tony (Vincent Pastore, the Sopranos) to serve Sara More (Elizabeth Hurley, Austin Powers) with divorce papers. When a stunned Sara finds out she's going to lose to her self-serving husband, Gordon Moore (Bruce Campbell, Army of Darkness) to his bimbo girlfriend, Kate (Amy Adams), she talks Joe into helping her serve her husband first.

Justin:

I've been anxious to see Matthew Perry in another feature film ever since the Whole Nine Yards, so I was excited when I heard about Serving Sara. I spent the first 15 minutes of the movie hoping it would get better, and though it did, it still ended up being a mediocre movie. Vincent Pastore showed a little more versatility by playing a more comedic role than he has in the past. The chemistry between he, Matthew Perry and Cedric the Entertainer was good. Cedric's role was good, he played his character's personality quirks perfectly, Elizabeth Hurley came off as stuck up while at the same time charming, and I've never seen Bruce Campbell give a bad performance. There were no problems in anyone's performance, but the script wasn't great. It was, however, very clever in parts. Ultimately I think this movie would be a good way to kill an evening, either on a date or simply out of boredom, but if you're looking to laugh go see Austin Powers 3.

Keayn:

Television stars always have a hard time breaking out of their defined roles. Serving Sara is a good start for Matthew Perry. Joe Tyler is a cynical, jaded human being who believes that there is something better out there. Elizabeth Hurley does a good job as the not-so-trophy wife. The chemistry between Sara and Joe shows but for most of the movie it is subdued. Bruce Campbell is great as the hoodwinking husband on the run. I have always liked Cedric the Entertainer. The lines he delivers as the high-blood pressure boss are some of the best in the movie.

The problem is that Serving Sara could have been better. It was well cast. It had a good director. Still it seemed to fall a little flat. The writing could have been better. The editing could have been a little tighter. It seems as if the cast and the writers were disconnected. Serving Sara could have been a much better movie if only a little more effort had been placed into it.

All in all I think this was a good movie, not great, not bad, just a good movie. Although Perry and Hurley were dealing with their own personal issues at the time of the filming, it doesn't detract from the film. It's a light, entertaining and one of the better comedies of the year. If you haven't seen it, there are definitely worse things out there.

3 out of 5 bunches of grapes