For Richer or Poorer

For those of us who find Tim Allen to be about as funny as a parking meter, For Richer or Poorer looks like a pretty poor bet. The movie's premise -- an Amish-urbanite culture clash -- is a frayed and grubby comic hand-me-down. Even Kirstie Alley, who can raise an ironic eyebrow with the best of them, couldn't possibly save this howler, could she? Well, strike me from the National Society of Film Critics, but I liked it.

Allen and Alley play a couple of New York socialites for whom the good life has turned spectacularly bad. Their marriage on the skids and a demented IRS agent on their tail, the pair run for the hills, winding up in Intercourse, Pennsylvania, where they insinuate themselves into an Amish community . . . and so on. For all its what-a-silly-beard sight gags, stock incongruities (hear the Amish child say, "You go, girl"), and spoon-served values, Allen and Alley bring enough easy charm and lightweight pathos to their roles to make For Richer or Poorer one of the year's better dumb comedies -- at least for those of us who expected the worse. At the Harbour Mall, Showcase, Starcase, Tri-Boro, and Woonsocket cinemas.

-- Chris Wright