Serving Sara on DVD

Being typecast must be one of the hardest things for an actor. Once your character stops being a box office draw, there’s no reason for you to continue being cast.

Matthew Perry is in a very difficult situation. His most successful roles have been playing (essentially, at least) the same character. When he finally managed to catch a role that would allow him to show off his various acting talents, the film tanked at the box office.

Joe Tyler (Perry) is a process server. He’s a pretty good one, and he’s willing to do just about anything to deliver the necessary papers and make his money. But when he’s given a job to deliver papers to the unbelievably attractive (and equally persuasive) Sara Moore (Elizabeth Hurley), things don’t quite go as he expects. Sara convinces Joe to deliver the papers to her husband, Gordon (Bruce Campbell), instead ,in exchange for a cool million dollars.

So the two head out on a road trip to Texas, along the way encountering various obstacles and developing affections for each other. If they can deliver the papers on time and get a decent settlement, they can live happily ever after.

It’s nice to see Matthew Perry play someone other than Chandler, and he proves here that he has more than one character under his belt. Even though he and Hurley don’t seem to have much chemistry on screen, they’re both charismatic enough that you’re willing to let it go. Bruce Campbell is always fun to watch (it’s really a shame he hasn’t had a much more successful career), and Cedric the Entertainer, despite his self-indulgent showbiz name, steals many of his scenes.

Serving Sara is an enjoyable enough movie, but it isn't quite sure what kind of movie it wants to be. It’s partly a comedy, partly a romance, partly a road movie, but it isn’t quite enough of any of them to be called such. Other than this minor flaw, the film has enough elements to make it worth checking out at least once.

Paramount is getting better with their DVDs. They started very slow and never really got up to speed (with The Godfather and Tomb Raider as notable exceptions). These days, many of their releases are getting more and better supplements, and there’s word getting out that they’ll even be hopping on the DTS bandwagon sometime in 2003.

Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, the picture quality is not bad. There’s not much in the way of grain or dust, but it’s pretty soft all the way through. It’s not bad enough to decrease your enjoyment of the film, but it’s definitely noticeable. The audio is equally decent, but surround use is almost nonexistent. The sound coming from the front speakers is perfectly clear and well done, but there are some instances in the film in which rear usage would have been beneficial.

Extras include a fairly good audio commentary by director Reginald Hudlin, a behind-the-scenes featurette, outtakes, deleted/extended/alternate scenes, and the trailer.

Serving Sara, from Paramount Home Entertainment
99 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) 16X9 enhanced, 5.1 Dolby Digital
Starring Matthew Perry, Elizabeth Hurley, Bruce Campbell and Cedric the Entertainer
Produced by Dan Halsted
Written by Jay Scherick & David Ronn
Directed by Reginald Hudlin

Tell us at TechnoFile what YOU think