Verdict
Summary
It takes awhile for the characters in For Richer or Poorer to grow on you; they’re both highly unlikable and unsympathetic people, and at almost a full two hours, the movie jumps through the cliché hoops for city slickers being humbled by the Amish in ways that Witness (which is mentioned in this movie) and Holy Matrimony already featured.
Plot:
Two tax evaders hide out in an Amish community and try to fit in
Review:
Slick high stakes wheeler / dealer Brad Sexton (Tim Allen) and his wife Caroline (Kirstie Alley) finally spend their last dollar when one of Brad’s employees runs off with all his money and indicates Brad in a massive tax evasion scheme before flying the coop. With the IRS close on their trail and all of their accounts frozen, the Sextons have literally nothing but the clothes on their backs and a stolen car at their fingertips, and they end up (of all places) in Amish country where fortune smiles on them for a spell: They assume the lives of a couple – cousins to the Yoder clan – and get room and board at a strict community where there is no electricity, no comforts of home, and where they’ll be expected to work their asses off from dawn to dusk, all while trying to salvage their marriage, which is falling apart. Turns out that Brad has some skills the Amish can use (his expertise on real estate comes in handy when the clan wants to purchase some land) and Caroline is a big hit with the ladies with her sense of fashion. As the IRS presses in, the Sextons only have so much time to change their minds and hearts and realize that life isn’t all about material things but about building relationships.
It takes awhile for the characters in For Richer or Poorer to grow on you; they’re both highly unlikable and unsympathetic people, and at almost a full two hours, the movie jumps through the cliché hoops for city slickers being humbled by the Amish in ways that Witness (which is mentioned in this movie) and Holy Matrimony already featured. So none of this is stuff we’ve never seen before and so the movie really hinges on you liking these characters after awhile. Luckily, Allen and Alley are fairly appealing actors, and while the script and direction (by Bryan Spicer) are nothing special, the movie does have some endearing qualities to it.
Mill Creek brings For Richer or Poorer to Blu-ray and while the film had already been released on Blu from Universal, this edition is a budget title and doesn’t have any special features. The high definition transfer is adequate.
