{ "id": "eppehzf9cs", "slug": "for-richer-or-poorer", "title": "For Richer or Poorer", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1995-to-1999", "label": "Comedies of 1995 to 1999", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1995-to-1999" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1995-to-1999.black-and-satirical-comedies", "label": "Black and satirical comedies", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1995-to-1999.black-and-satirical-comedies" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1995-to-1999.black-and-satirical-comedies.yr-1995-1998", "label": "Released 1995 to 1998", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1995-to-1999.black-and-satirical-comedies.yr-1995-1998" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1995-to-1999.black-and-satirical-comedies", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Black and satirical comedies", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1995-to-1999.black-and-satirical-comedies", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1995-to-1999", "label": "Comedies of 1995 to 1999", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1995-to-1999" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1995-to-1999.black-and-satirical-comedies", "label": "Black and satirical comedies", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1995-to-1999.black-and-satirical-comedies" } ] } ], "excerpt": "For Richer or Poorer is a 1997 American romantic comedy directed by Bryan Spicer, starring Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley as wealthy New Yorkers hiding from the IRS among the Amish.", "snippet": "For Richer or Poorer is a 1997 American romantic comedy directed by Bryan Spicer, starring Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley as wealthy New Yorkers hiding from the IRS among the Amish.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1995-to-1999.black-and-satirical-comedies.yr-1995-1998", "markdown": "# For Richer or Poorer\n\n**For Richer or Poorer** is a 1997 American romantic comedy directed by Bryan Spicer, starring [Tim Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/tim-allen) and [Kirstie Alley](https://www.edgepedia.org/kirstie-alley) as a wealthy Manhattan couple who flee an IRS fraud investigation by hiding in an Amish community in Pennsylvania.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60736-FOR-RICHER-OR-POORER?cxt=filmography) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/for_richer_or_poorer) It was produced by [Universal Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/universal-pictures) and The Bubble Factory and released in the United States on December 12, 1997.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60736-FOR-RICHER-OR-POORER?cxt=filmography) • [3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0119142/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director / writers | Bryan Spicer; screenplay by Jana Howington and Steve LuKanic[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60736-FOR-RICHER-OR-POORER?cxt=filmography) |\n| Stars | Tim Allen as Brad Sexton, Kirstie Alley as Caroline Sexton, with Jay O. Sanders, Michael Lerner, Wayne Knight, and Larry Miller[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60736-FOR-RICHER-OR-POORER?cxt=filmography) • [4](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/for-richer-or-poorer/cast/2000302870/) |\n| Release | December 12, 1997 (United States), Universal Pictures[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0119142/) |\n| Box office | $31,642,995 domestic; $32,748,995 worldwide, against a $35,000,000 budget[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0119142/) |\n| Opening weekend | $6,015,970 from 1,904 theaters[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/For-Richer-or-Poorer) |\n| Rating / runtime | PG-13; runtime reported as 108 minutes by AFI and 115 minutes by IMDb[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60736-FOR-RICHER-OR-POORER?cxt=filmography) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119142/maindetails) |\n| Critical scores | 17% Tomatometer (24 reviews); 46% Popcornmeter (25,000+ ratings)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/for_richer_or_poorer) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nBrad and Caroline Sexton are rich but miserable New Yorkers on the verge of divorce. Their accountant embezzles millions and pins the fraud on them, so the couple go on the run from the IRS and hide in Amish country in Pennsylvania, posing as members of the community to avoid detection.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/for_richer_or_poorer) • [7](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/for-richer-or-poorer) While their lawyer works on the case in New York, they struggle to blend in, learning to milk cows and plow fields, and in the process they fall in love again.[7](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/for-richer-or-poorer)\n\nThe supporting cast includes [Jay O. Sanders](https://www.edgepedia.org/jay-o-sanders) as Samuel Yoder, Michael Lerner as Phil Kleinman, Wayne Knight as Bob Lachman, and [Larry Miller](https://www.edgepedia.org/larry-miller-comedian) as IRS Inspector Derek Lester.[4](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/for-richer-or-poorer/cast/2000302870/) Roger Ebert, the longtime film critic of the *Chicago Sun-Times*, described Allen's character as a real estate magnate celebrating his tenth wedding anniversary by unveiling a theme park scheme called \"Holyland,\" and noted that the accountant had stolen $5 million and made it look like tax fraud.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/for-richer-or-poorer-1997)\n\n## Production and filming\n\n[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) ran from April 28 to July 14, 1997, with locations in Westminster, Glen Burnie, and Baltimore, Maryland; Muddy Creek Forks, Pennsylvania; and New York City.[9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119142/locations/) Westminster's Main Street was shut down for two days of filming, and about 2,000 people turned out to watch Allen and Alley at work; the town stood in for [Lancaster County, Pennsylvania](https://www.edgepedia.org/lancaster-county-pennsylvania).[10](https://www.deseret.com/1997/5/8/19310943/main-street-closes-down-to-make-way-for-an-alley/) According to IMDb trivia, the farmhouse used in the film was located in [Westminster](https://www.edgepedia.org/westminster) and was torn down a few years after the movie's release.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119142/maindetails)\n\n**Crew.** Buzz Feitshans IV served as cinematographer, Russell Denove as editor, Stephen Hendrickson as production designer, and [Randy Edelman](https://www.edgepedia.org/randy-edelman) composed the score. Sid, Bill, and Jon Sheinberg produced through The Bubble Factory and Sheinberg Productions.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60736-FOR-RICHER-OR-POORER?cxt=filmography) Spicer had made the leap to feature films with *Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie* (1995) and *McHale's Navy* before directing this film for The Bubble Factory.[11](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/1997-2/for-richer-or-poorer/)\n\n## Box office\n\nThe film opened on December 12, 1997, in 1,904 theaters and earned $6,015,970 on its opening weekend, 19.0 percent of its eventual total.[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/For-Richer-or-Poorer) It ran for about 6.9 weeks per theater on average, peaking at 1,954 theaters, and finished with a domestic gross of $31,680,796 by The Numbers' accounting or $31,642,995 by [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo)'s.[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/For-Richer-or-Poorer) • [3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0119142/) International receipts were small: Box Office Mojo lists $1,106,000 from foreign markets, 3.4 percent of the worldwide total of $32,748,995.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0119142/) Against an estimated $35 million budget, the film did not recoup its production cost in theaters.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0119142/) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119142/maindetails)\n\n## Critical reception\n\nThe film received poor reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 17% Tomatometer from 24 reviews, while audiences rated it considerably higher, at 46% on the Popcornmeter from more than 25,000 ratings.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/for_richer_or_poorer)\n\nReviewers repeatedly faulted the formula while crediting the leads. Ebert gave it two stars out of four, calling the plot \"a yawner, another one of those 'fish out of water' formula jobs, complete with car chases and jokes about cow manure,\" but adding that Allen and Alley \"succeed somehow in bringing a certain charm to their scenes.\"[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/for-richer-or-poorer-1997) Mike Clark of *USA Today* gave it 1.5 out of 4, and the Associated Press's Bob Thomas wrote that neither the stars nor the competent cast could overcome the formulaic script and direction.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/for_richer_or_poorer) The *Washington Post*'s Stephen Hunter was harsher, objecting that the Amish were treated condescendingly and that the film's premise, that losing money is purifying, rang false.[12](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1997/12/12/richer-or-poorer-bull-on-the-farm/63ae8aa5-8f99-4a03-910d-470b4dc337bc/) A Deseret News review published on opening day called the film hastily conceived and noted that the Amish are the butt of most of its jokes.[13](https://www.deseret.com/1997/12/12/20087585/film-review-for-richer-or-poorer/)\n\n## Place in Amish-themed cinema\n\nFor Richer or Poorer belongs to a small body of twentieth-century American films about the Amish. A 2026 survey of Amish-themed cinema counts eleven such films made in the twentieth century, including *Witness* (1985), *[Kingpin](https://www.edgepedia.org/kingpin-1996-film)* (1996), and *Harvest of Fire* (1996), with For Richer or Poorer as the last of them.[14](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/17/7/867) The Elizabethtown College Amish Studies program lists it among later films and series that \"depicted Amish life with various levels of authenticity.\"[15](https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/social-organization/media/)\n\nScholarship on the film emphasizes its use of a recurring template: an outsider from the modern city, under pressure from work or a troubled relationship, enters an Amish community and rethinks how to live. In this telling, the Amish serve mainly as a reference point for the outsider's transformation rather than as subjects in their own right.[14](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/17/7/867) The film's Lancaster County setting, plain dress, and contrast between rural calm and urban rush all fit the \"Arcadian\" (idyllic, idealized rural image of simple country life) image that scholars argue American cinema has projected onto the Amish, an image shaped almost entirely by non-Amish filmmakers because the Amish decline to participate in filmmaking.[14](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/17/7/867)\n\n## References\n\n1. [For Richer or Poorer (1997), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60736-FOR-RICHER-OR-POORER?cxt=filmography)\n2. [For Richer or Poorer, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/for_richer_or_poorer)\n3. [For Richer or Poorer (1997), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0119142/)\n4. [For Richer or Poorer – Full Cast & Crew, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/for-richer-or-poorer/cast/2000302870/)\n5. [For Richer or Poorer (1997) – Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/For-Richer-or-Poorer)\n6. [For Richer or Poorer (1997), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119142/maindetails)\n7. [For Richer or Poorer, Universal Pictures At Home](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/for-richer-or-poorer)\n8. [For Richer Or Poorer movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/for-richer-or-poorer-1997)\n9. [For Richer or Poorer (1997) – Filming & production, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119142/locations/)\n10. [Main Street closes down to make way for an Alley, Deseret News (May 8, 1997)](https://www.deseret.com/1997/5/8/19310943/main-street-closes-down-to-make-way-for-an-alley/)\n11. [For Richer Or Poorer (1997), Bomb Report](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/1997-2/for-richer-or-poorer/)\n12. ['Richer or Poorer': Bull on the Farm, The Washington Post (December 11, 1997)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1997/12/12/richer-or-poorer-bull-on-the-farm/63ae8aa5-8f99-4a03-910d-470b4dc337bc/)\n13. [Film review: For Richer or Poorer, Deseret News (December 12, 1997)](https://www.deseret.com/1997/12/12/20087585/film-review-for-richer-or-poorer/)\n14. [Yaping Pan, \"Arcadia: The Cinematic Image of the Amish and Its Construction,\" Religions 17(7):867 (2026)](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/17/7/867)\n15. [Media, Amish Studies, Elizabethtown College](https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/social-organization/media/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 1995 to 1999 › Black and satirical comedies › Released 1995 to 1998*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/for-richer-or-poorer", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/for-richer-or-poorer.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"For Richer or Poorer\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/for-richer-or-poorer. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[For Richer or Poorer](https://www.edgepedia.org/for-richer-or-poorer)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/for-richer-or-poorer](https://www.edgepedia.org/for-richer-or-poorer). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"For Richer or Poorer\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/for-richer-or-poorer. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "For Richer or Poorer is a 1997 American romantic comedy directed by Bryan Spicer, starring Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley as wealthy New Yorkers hiding from the IRS among the Amish." }