318:, where Tony is shot in the back as he attempts to get on the grounds of the wrong ranch to try to serve the papers. Sara and Joe trail Gordon to his ranch, but Gordon evades them. At the ranch, Sara takes some money and Gordon's passport so that he cannot leave the country. Sara and Joe stay overnight at a hotel, and Joe tells Sara of his dream of owning a vineyard. While Sara is bathing, Joe goes to the bar, and Gordon's mistress appears to suggest a new deal to Joe; for one million dollars from the divorce settlement, she will reveal Gordon's location. Joe agrees, but the entire deal is a setup to get Tony into the hotel room to serve Sara, which he does. Furious, Sara kicks Joe out.
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that, under Texas law, she stands to gain nothing from the divorce. When she learns that "half of everything" would apply if the papers had been served under New York law, Sara offers Joe a million dollars to serve her husband and rip up her papers. Despite knowing that he might lose his job, Joe agrees and the two set off together to serve Gordon.
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While Joe is attempting to serve Sara, Tony tips her off, thus revealing that Joe has been failing lately because Tony is sabotaging his efforts. Eventually Joe does serve her, but is mugged soon thereafter. Joe and Sara are forced to take the same bus; while they are riding together, Joe informs her
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kingpin known as Fat
Charlie with a summons to appear as a witness in court. Joe's abrasive boss Ray ridicules him while complimenting Joe's rival, Tony, for serving multiple summonses in record time. Willing to give Joe one last shot, Ray gives him an assignment to serve British socialite Sara Moore
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given the assignment to serve a
British socialite with divorce papers, but is persuaded to serve her husband instead so that she can get a larger portion of his money in the divorce. The film was panned by critics and did poorly at the box office, debuting in the top 10 when it was released on August
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to grab laughs from the audience, saying that "Some jokes, apparently, are just so uproarious they have to be recycled." He also gave note of the performances of Perry and Hurley, finding the latter coming out unscathed but felt the former doesn't do well because "his blocky, charmless screen
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The film opened at #6 at the U.S. box office and earned $ 5.7 million in its opening weekend. The film had a budget of $ 29 million and the film's total gross in the United States was $ 16.9 million. The film grossed a further $ 3,215,965 at the international box office.
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called it, "One of the more cynical and insulting
Hollywood offerings in recent memory," saying that, "Unfunny and lacking any sense of commitment to or affection for its characters, the Reginald Hudlin comedy relies on toilet humor, ethnic slurs." In a review for
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When Ray hears of their plan, he informs Gordon and sends Tony off to re-serve Sara. Gordon hires a bodyguard named Vernon to protect himself, and Joe, expecting Tony to tail him, leaves a set of bogus clues that lead Tony to
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While Joe contemplates his lost fortune and budding affection for Sara, he notices Tony's watch in the picture Tony took of him serving Sara, and calls Ray to inform him that Tony forgot to set his watch to
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at the same time. He was taking Xanax, Methadone, and drinking a quart of vodka a day. Filming was delayed for two months while Perry went to rehab.
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described the film's humor as being "a cattle ranch full of joke droppings and mooing shtick not worth stepping in." Scott Tobias of
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relies heavily on Perry's perpetually exasperated shtick, which fits more comfortably among the democratic ensemble of TV's
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with his mistress, Kate, while Sara is vacationing in upstate New York.
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criticized the film for utilizing a similar cattle gag scene from the
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with divorce papers from her husband, Gordon, who is at his ranch in
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is a forgettable time waster." It was ranked number 82 in a
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847:from the original on October 4, 2020
573:from the original on April 12, 2022
760:Fuchs, Cynthia (August 21, 2002).
559:Harris, Dana (December 17, 2001).
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1201:Films directed by Reginald Hudlin
829:Tobias, Scott (August 30, 2002).
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1065:(segment "Space Traders", 1994)
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608:from the original on 2022-12-03
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952:Retrieved August 29, 2007.
561:"Mandalay on road with Summit"
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1206:Films scored by Marcus Miller
626:Mary Kate Carr (2022-11-10).
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989:Matthew Perry interview for
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1226:Paramount Pictures films
1221:Mandalay Pictures films
427:was panned by critics.
659:"Serving Sara Reviews"
360:Cedric the Entertainer
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695:"Serving Sara (2002)"
488:It Happened One Night
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1072:The Great White Hype
803:Entertainment Weekly
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167:Summit Entertainment
1216:Films shot in Texas
1196:Films about divorce
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161:Paramount Pictures
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229:$ 29 million
201:Running time
178:Release date
52:Jay Scherick
22:Serving Sara
1062:Cosmic Slop
1042:House Party
601:The Numbers
577:October 19,
372:Terry Crews
314:, and then
205:102 minutes
63:Dan Halsted
59:Produced by
39:Directed by
1166:2002 films
1160:Categories
767:PopMatters
679:August 29,
664:Metacritic
644:2022-11-11
612:2022-11-11
546:References
537:Box office
457:PopMatters
429:Metacritic
397:Production
234:Box office
189:2002-08-23
139:Production
122:Jim Miller
54:David Ronn
49:Written by
1052:Boomerang
841:The Onion
415:Reception
374:as Vernon
366:Amy Adams
118:Edited by
91:Amy Adams
1102:Marshall
984:AllMovie
927:April 1,
921:Archived
883:Archived
851:April 1,
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814:April 5,
808:Archived
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673:Archived
638:Archived
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571:Archived
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218:Language
128:Music by
69:Starring
889:June 1,
715:June 1,
566:Variety
526:comedy
505:of the
498:Friends
404:Friends
368:as Kate
356:as Tony
221:English
210:Country
187: (
141:company
1145:(2023)
1135:(2022)
1132:Sidney
1125:(2020)
1122:Safety
1115:(2019)
1105:(2017)
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1085:(2000)
1075:(1996)
1055:(1992)
1045:(1990)
264:, and
226:Budget
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296:Texas
291:Mafia
973:IMDb
929:2018
891:2021
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