I missed this movie for about 22 years. It's not great --- don't get me wrong. But the humor, acting, timing, plot, and underlying message are all well-done. It's a very watchable movie, with some laughs, and a solid story-line. Nice pairing of Kirstie and Allen.

Apparently not very demanding at all, Bryan Spicer's "For Richer or Poorer" remains a pleasure to watch in 2017, as it was when it came out. Perhaps because of its Amish setting, there is a particular timelessness about the concept of city slickers in trouble with the law and with a marriage on the rocks rediscovering older, deeper values - and each other - that defies or goes beyond both this movie's sillier moments or easy attempts to ridicule or deride the piece on the part of the watcher. At some level there is a pleasant depth and warmth here that owes much to Tim Allen's approach to movies, as nicely complemented by Kirstie Alley's surprisingly tangible sexiness ... and considerable capacity for comedy. The fact that both play characters incompetent and out of their depth in the midst of the simplicity and incredible hard work of the rural idyll in which they find themselves (for them actually a refuge from the IRS) is fun, but far augmented by the actuak willingness of the characters to adapt, muck in and keep trying, which ultimately yields its rewards.

And the reward for us watching is to note the at-times sweet and subtle ways in which our misfitting pair experiencing strained relations gradually come back to each other. Those not made of stone will find themselves rooting for the couple, willing them to get back together - and that surely has much to say about the good and the bad (but also the essential value and sweetness and even sanctity) of the much-derided institution of marriage.

If the Amish presentation is a bit one-dimensional, well it's certainly not hostile, indeed doing much to suggest that this lifestyle is an ideal one that can change much for the better.

It's actually surprising that one even feels the need to raise such issues in the context of what looks at first glance like nothing more than a lightweight screwball comedy, but then that is really a tribute to this film, which in my view achieves quite a bit more than it sets out to.