Log in / Sign up
 
    Share this page

    Serving Sara

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    WARNING: This review is hidden because it reveals the content of the film.
    Click here to show this review.
    "Serving Sara" is a horrendous romantic comedy. That’s to assume that a film that generates no tender feelings within the audience and contains few (if any) laughs can actually be called “romantic” and “comedic”.

    Joe Tyler (Matthew Perry) is a process server, that guy that hands you a piece of paper notifying you that you have to appear in court. Sara (Elizabeth Hurley) is the one he’s supposed to hand papers to her so her cheating husband can keep all of his money. When Sara and Joe meet, she attempts to convince him to hold off so she can get “half of everything”.

    Matthew Perry tries hard here, but it’s all for naught. Joe is thoroughly unlikeable and no amount of snappy remarks, imitations and off-handed jokes will make you cheer for him, particularly because almost all of them fall completely flat. He reminds you of that unfunny guy at the party that's desperately trying to hit on women by saying bad jokes and trying way too hard to make them laugh. That’s reason enough to hate him, but if he were the very least somewhat of a professional, or good at his job he would be bearable. Unfortunately, as a process server he sucks. When he gets into a tight situation and it becomes clear that he will have a hard time doing his job you should feel some kind of tension of excitement. You don’t. It’s repetitive and dull because you know this guy will never do anything right.

    You cheer for Sara (particularly after she lets Joe receive a vicious beating from two mobsters) but her comedic scenes aren't funny at all and border on the ridiculous. There's a scene in the airport where her pants get caught in some machinery and destroyed. Now she has to change her outfit by swiping some clothes from the luggage that's lying around. She only needs pants, but she changes her whole outfit and leaves all of the bags open with clothes strewn all over the floor. This new sexy look is supposed to have us get excited about seeing more of her throughout the movie (As several scenes later tease the audience by showing glimpses of her naked body) but it just raises some questions like: Why did she change all of her clothes? If she's in such a hurry, why did she take the time to look for a new matching outfit? Did anyone think that scene was going to be funny?

    Several scenes seem to have had little thought put into them. After Sara takes a shower in the hotel room she is sharing with Joe she realizes that she didn’t bring pyjamas. So she announces that she’ll be sleeping in her towel. What woman would do this? Wouldn't it make more sense for her to go to sleep in her underwear (she has no spare clothes with her despite having stolen a new outfit earlier) or just fully clothed? Even going to bed naked would be more believable than hopping into bed in a wet towel. I know that seems like a trivial point but that’s the kind of thing that stands out in “Serving Sara”. Not big laughs, not the chemistry between the leads, stupid actions that make you question whether or not the people involved actually know what normal human behaviour is like.

    There are absolutely no sparks between the two leads and it makes the romantic sub plot exhausting. The dialogue is very written and there is no physical chemistry either. You simply do not care as the obvious romantic sub plot plays out. To compensate for the poor writing, the movie throws some visual gags that can only be described as childish and amateur. There's a scene where Vincent Pastore is getting his back shaven by a nurse but the woman is using a small rotary saw to get rid of the hair on his body. I don’t even understand what the joke is there. Did anyone really think that an extended scene where Matthew Perry has to shove his hand up a bull's anus to help it hump a robotic cow that makes funny faces and sounds would be hilarious? Are we really supposed to believe that when enraged, anyone would take the time to spell "You #@*! Up!" on their pager instead of just writing it out?

    “Serving Sara” is an absolute chore to sit through. The bad jokes, lousy dialogue, cheap physical humour and bad plotting just keep adding up. It feels like I was trapped in a prison whose running time was only 99 minutes long, but where each second was more unbearable than the last. There are a couple of laughs in the movie but that just proves that if you just keep throwing joke after joke at the audience, eventually something is going to stick. Even if you can fathom a scene where a cowboy has to apply ice onto his arm because he's just spent hours trying to collect sperm from a bull being funny, you should stay far away from "Serving Sara". (On DVD, April 28, 2013)

    1
    HelpfulNot helpful  Reply
    adamwatchesmovies@  26.3.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

    Show all reviews for this movie
    Note: The movie review posted on this page reflects a personal opinion of one user. We are not responsible for its content.

    Did you see ''Serving Sara''?

    There is a problem with your e-mail address and we are unable to communicate with you. Please go to My Account to update your email.

    How do you rate this movie?

    Select stars from 1 to 10.
    10 - A masterpiece, go, see it now
    9 - Excellent movie, a must see
    8 - Great movie, don't miss it
    7 - Good movie, worth seeing
    6 - Not bad, could be much better
    5 - So so, okay if you don't pay
    4 - Not good, even if you don't pay
    3 - Poor movie, not recommended
    2 - Very bad, forget about it
    1 - Worst ever, avoid at all costs

    Please explain. Write your comment here:

    Please choose a username to sign your comments. Only letters, digits, dash - or period. Minimum 4 characters.

    Your age and sex:

    We publish all comments, except abusive, at our discretion.