For Richer or Poorer

For Richer or Poorer is a 1997 American slapstick comedy film directed by Bryan Spicer, written by Jana Howington and Steve LuKanic. It stars Tim Allen, Kirstie Alley, Jay O. Sanders, Michael Lerner, Wayne Knight, and Larry Miller, with Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Megan Cavanaugh, Carrie Preston, John Pyper-Ferguson, John Caponera, and Ethan Phillips appearing in supporting roles. It tells the story of a New York City socialite couple who decide to end their spoiled relationship. This is complicated when an accountant they know leaves them the blame for the embezzlements, causing them to go on the run and end up taking refuge with an Old Order Amish family in Intercourse, Pennsylvania.

For Richer or Poorer was released by Universal Pictures on December 12, 1997. Despite featuring the presence of Allen and Alley, the film gained negative reviews from critics and was a box office failure, grossing $32.7 million worldwide against a $35 million budget.

New York City millionaire socialite Brad Sexton turns his marriage's 10th anniversary party into a real estate development pitch for "The Holy Land", a theme park modeled after Biblical lore. One of the display's special effects catches a federal judge's wardrobe on fire. Furious, Brad's wife Caroline decides to divorce him.

Meanwhile, Brad's accountant Bob Lachman is stealing the Sextons' millions and filing false tax returns. The money manipulations catch the attention of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and field agent Frank Hall demands to meet Bob and Brad to bring the obligations up to date. Bob makes Brad his scapegoat, since all the tax returns where Bob committed fraud are in Brad's name. Bob admits this in Brad's phone call to him as Bob flees in a taxicab.

Fearing that the Sextons could be fleeing, Hall orders the freezing of their assets as Brad calls his lawyer Phil Kleinmann for help. IRS Inspector Derek Lester joins Hall to serve the warrant and bring in the Sextons.

Brad flees, steals a cab, and happens to pick up Caroline. The Sextons escape from Hall, Lester, and the police and leave New York. They crash the cab into a swamp and are forced to spend that night sleeping rough, covered in mud. The next day, they find themselves in Intercourse, Pennsylvania, a small Lancaster County-area community of Old Order Amish. After stealing clothes, they masquerade as Jacob and Emma, a family's expected cousins from Missouri. Samuel and Levinia Yoder, along with their sons and daughters, make the pair at home.

Gradually, the pair learns to fit in. Brad, with his knowledge of real estate values, helps Samuel's future son-in-law Henner buy some land, and Caroline's knowledge of fashion helps their conservative ordnung relax their colorless dress code. Hall and Lester then find the stolen taxicab after suffering the same cow-related accident.

The Sextons rediscover why they fell in love in the first place, largely through their efforts of helping others rather than themselves. As Samuel and Levinia's daughter Rebecca exchanges vows with Henner, the ceremony is interrupted by the state police, Hall, and Lester as the real Jacob and Emma show up. The Sextons are exposed and extradited back to New York.

At the courthouse, Phil shows up informing Judge Joan Northcutt about some new information that puts the case on hold. Explaining his absence that involved some Germans wanting to buy one of Brad's projects, Phil reveals that he found Bob in Zürich and had him extradited back to the United States. Bob is hauled into the courtroom by police officers to face the Sextons. He defends his actions to Brad by claiming that he was in debt. While thanking a restrained Bob for saving their marriage, Brad then punches Bob for framing him. Northcutt drops the charges against the Sextons.

Returning to Intercourse, Brad and Caroline beg Samuel and Levinia for forgiveness, to no avail. As they turn to leave, Samuel then reveals that he and Levinia knew the whole time of the ruse. They put up with it because it was planting season and they needed the extra help. Brad offers to give his watch as a present only to be told that the Amish cannot accept gifts, only trades. He then trades the watch for Big John, a Belgian horse.

During the credits amidst the bloopers, Brad and Caroline come across the same cow and the land they crashed into, which is now up for sale. As Bob plans to make use of the land, Caroline reveals that she is pregnant with their first child.

The film was shot between April and July 1997 in New York City, Maryland and Pennsylvania. According to the Maryland Film Office in 1997, For Richer or Poorer helped bring in $12 million to $16 million for the state.^[1] A significant portion of the film's $35 million budget went to actor Tim Allen, who reportedly received $16 million for the project.^[2] Allen shot the film during the break between the sixth and seventh seasons of his sitcom Home Improvement. It is to date the last film by Bryan Spicer.

For Richer or Poorer was a box office flop, earning $32.7 million on an estimated budget of $35 million.^[3] Reviews of the film were mainly negative. It currently holds a 17% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 reviews.^[4] On the December 13, 1997 episode of Siskel & Ebert, it received a thumbs down from Roger Ebert and a "marginal thumbs down" from Gene Siskel, with Siskel preferring the more serious moments of the film over the comedic parts.^[5] In his other review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Ebert gave the film 2 out of 4 stars. Regarding the film and Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley's performances, he stated: "I admired their sheer professionalism. The plot is a yawner... But they succeed somehow in bringing a certain charm to their scenes, and they never miss with a laugh line."^[6] Hollis Chacona of The Austin Chronicle gave it 1 out of 5 stars in December 1997, and labelled it as a "soundly unfunny, roundly implausible movie that purports to extol human values and expose the underbelly of materialistic life."^[7] He added, "except for a nasty little turn by Marla Maples as the Queen of Victorious Divorces, and some lovely, bucolic scenery, For Richer or Poorer is not even remotely interesting."^[7] Chris Hewitt of The Spokesman-Review criticized the film for making "shameless and humorless fun of the Amish."^[8]

At the 1997 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley were nominated for Worst On-Screen Couple but lost to Jean-Claude van Damme and Dennis Rodman for Double Team.^[9] Shortly after her death in 2022, Rolling Stone included For Richer or Poorer on a list of Alley's 14 most memorable roles.^[10]

• For Richer or Poorer at IMDb