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Matthew Perry, Elizabeth Hurley, Bruce Campbell, Amy Adams, Vincent Pastore ... see more see more... , Cedric the Entertainer , Terry Crews , Jerry Stiller , Joe Viterelli

A process server makes an unusual alliance with a beautiful but devious woman in this comedy. Joe Tyler (Matthew Perry) is a former attorney whose career went bust when he picked up some clients who t... read more read more...urned out to be associated with the Mafia. These days, Joe makes his living as a process server, who presents people with legal papers -- papers they would usually prefer not to get. One of Joe's fellow servers, Tony (Vincent Pastore), is trying to weasel him out of his job, and has starting tipping off Joe's targets before he can deliver their papers in order to get Joe in dutch with their boss, Ray (Cedric the Entertainer). Joe, however, is able to persuade Ray to give him another chance with a high-profile client, Gordon (Bruce Campbell), a wealthy Texas cattle baron who has decided to divorce his wife and business partner, Sara (Elizabeth Hurley), in order to marry another woman, Kate (Amy Adams). When Joe presents Sara with the divorce papers, she is shocked by the news, which would cost her her half of the Gordon fortune. After Joe gets carjacked and finds herself on the same bus with Sara, she makes him a deal: If he's willing to take back the papers, say he never presented them, and serve a divorce petition to Gordon first, she'll pay Joe an even million dollars. Serving Sara became the focus of some unexpected controversy during its production -- first when Matthew Perry took a brief leave from the production to enter a rehabilitation clinic to fight an addiction to painkillers, and later when Elizabeth Hurley's former boyfriend, Steve Bing, accused Perry of being the father of Hurley's child (a charge both Hurley and Perry denied, and was proven false by blood tests). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

31% liked it

26,583 ratings

Critics

5% liked it

105 critics

DVD Release Date: January 28, 2003

Stats: 612 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (612)


  • August 8, 2010
    I like seeing Matthew Perry in this more belligerent smart-aleck role rather than the innocuous smart-aleck role on "Friends." Amy Adams is the true stand-out in a cast of much more famous and supposedly more seasoned actors. Her bimbo character is so committed. That slow wink... read more. That breast-wiggling thing, which if it really is her and not some stunt breasts, deserves some kind of prize.

    Several plot holes: how is it that Sara gets on the exact same bus AFTER Joe when they are in the same place to begin with? How does Tony catch up to Joe and Sara so fast? If Tony forgets to set his watch back for CST, how does he make it on the plane in time?
  • November 14, 2011
    Serving Sara is a very easy going and charming movie. The two leading roles are played wonderfully by Matthew Perry and Elizabeth Hurley. Joe is a process server who meets Sara when he delivers divorce papers to her. Sara is chocked to know that her husband wants a divorce becaus... read moree she thought they were happily married. The papers say that she is about to lose everything in the divorce and she does not want to let that happen. I thought this movie is enjoyable because of these two talented actors and their good chemistry. Allthough this was set to be a great movie, it wasn't nearly as good as I'd expected it to be. It's sad because the story has much more potential.
  • June 27, 2011
    The movie is about a process server called Joe (Matthew Perry) who is given the assignment to serve Sara Moore (Elizabeth Hurley) with divorce papers by her philandering Texan husband, but after he does it she convinces him to serve her husband instead and destroy her papers in e... read morexchange of one million dollars. Cedric the Entertainer is hilarious as Perry's boss in the film and Amy Adams plays the girlfriend. There were some laughs (including one gross out scene where Joe has to pretend he is a veterinarian and help a bull out with a little "problem" he is having). "Serving Sara" serves up plenty of Hurley eye candy.
  • July 3, 2011
    It's a run of the mill comedy with a great cast. Matthew Perry didn't do many movies, but he was good at what he was type-cast to do. Bruce Campbell, Amy Adams, Vincent Pastore and Terry Crews all add to Serving Sara. It has Elizabeth Hurley. One of the most gorgeous women to gra... read morece the screen. Any movie with her in it is worth a star to its rating alone.

    The story isn't going to twist; it's there to keep the laughs going, and it's only kind of funny. If you're looking for anything with the slightest bit of depth, keep looking.

    Reginald Hudlin was a horrible director. He's doing TV now. That, and a script from the unbelievably bad writing team of Jay Scherik and David Ronn (I-Spy, Norbit, the Guess Who rewrite, National Security) and you get a surprisingly decent movie.

    If it's on TV and you just want something on TV, Serving Sara is worth a watch.
  • October 13, 2007
    Insanely ridiculous! Some funny scenes, but overall I'd say this is sleep-inducing, as much as sleeping pills!
  • June 22, 2006
    The only reason it didn't get 1/2 a star is because Bruce Campbell is in it.
  • December 22, 2009
    This movie is a tremendous amount of fun, and Matthew Perry is my fave star from friends (along with Lisa K.). Liz's performance in this film will remind you of "Bedazzled", another awesomely fun film.
  • January 30, 2008
    Oh, Matthew Perry. He's always Chandler. Even Elizabeth Hurley has a broader range. I actually really like the two of them but even so, it's still a pretty crappy movie.
  • August 4, 2007
    I couldn't stop laughing. I can't tell you the part because I don't want to ruin it for you but you will know it.
  • March 5, 2007
    Fast paced and entertaining, but not especially memorable, and Bruce Campbell was underused. Luckily, Elizabeth Hurly was in her underwear, so that made the rest of the movie worth watching. Actually, the whole cast was pretty good and likeable, which offset the fact that most of... read more the movie just isn't very funny, being only smile-worthy at best. Thats not a bad thing, mind you, but not a great one either.

Critic Reviews


Hank Sartin
January 3, 2007
Hank Sartin, Chicago Reader

Romantic comedy ought to have some romance and laughs, but this extraordinarily flat effort has neither. Full Review

Christy Lemire
January 3, 2007
Christy Lemire, Associated Press

Crass and joyless. Full Review

Lisa Schwarzbaum
August 29, 2002
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

The movie itself is a cattle ranch full of joke droppings and mooing shtick not worth stepping in. Full Review

Kirk Honeycutt
August 28, 2002
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter

A broadly played, lowbrow comedy in which the cast delivers mildly amusing performances and no farm animals were injured by any of the gags.

Laura Sinagra
August 27, 2002
Laura Sinagra, Village Voice

With Vicodin-sharp timing, Perry wavers from glib to glazed, seeming to openly rue his miscasting as palookaville process server Joe Tyler. Full Review

Desson Thomson
August 23, 2002
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

[Hell is] looking down at your watch and realizing Serving Sara isn't even halfway through.

Stephen Hunter
August 23, 2002
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post

Surprisingly amusing.

Robert Koehler
August 23, 2002
Robert Koehler, Variety

Serving Sara is little more than a mall movie designed to kill time. Full Review

Claudia Puig
August 23, 2002
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Late summer is often the dumping ground for comedies that go flat or romances that fizzle. Sara is both. Full Review

Susan Walker
August 23, 2002
Susan Walker, Toronto Star

The script is clever enough to give Perry a somewhat dignified role as a sarcastic, educated charmer down on his luck. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Serving Sara Trivia


  • This popular Friend was Serving Sara, but he learned that nothing good can happen when you're Three to tango.  Answer »
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  • This actor starred in 'The Whole Nine Yards', 'Three to Tango' and 'Serving Sara'. Who is he?  Answer »
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