Sadly Over-hyped

Good movie but grossly overrated

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Lighthearted suspense film about a phony psychic/con artist and her taxi driver/private investigator boyfriend who encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.When you think of Hitchcock's best films, you think "Vertigo", "Psycho" and "Rear Window", to name a few. You very rarely hear "Family Plot" mentioned, but I would argue it is among his best and a fine way to retire.The humor is nice, especially with the wonderful Bruce Dern. But really, this is just pure mystery and suspense. Is the missing child alive? If yes, who is he? And who is chasing who? This is such a great mystery film it deserves a second or third viewing.

This is not a classic movie. It is a little bit odd for Hitchcock fare. There are times when it is even a little bit boring. Remarkably, however, "Family Plot" tells a good enough story (and contains good enough acting) to still be a worthwhile experience.For a basic plot summary, "Family Plot" tells the story of Blanche Tyler (Barbara Harris), a "faker" psychic medium, and her boyfriend George (Bruce Dern). On one of her phony psychic sessions, Blanche is given the opportunity to earn $10,000 for finding the lost relative of one Julia Rainbird (Cathleen Nesbitt). As the lovers criss-cross the city looking for the lost man, they end up caught in the scheme of a jewel thief (played by William Devane).The reason this is a solid movie is because the story lines are so interesting. The hunt for the mysterious "Eddie Shoebridge" contains enough mystery to really suck you in and make you WANT to see the resolution. The concurrent jewel-thief plot is also interesting enough to make you wonder how the two can possibly be related. Through some of the so-so periods that this movie most definitely hits, the overall goal is fascinating enough that you won't even consider turning it off.Another factor that really helps, too, is the acting. Bruce Dern is an incredible character actor, and carries every scene he is given. Harris & Devane are also very capable leads that comprise good scenes with each other. At those moments when the overall storyline lags just a bit, the acting is good enough to keep you "in the movie".Overall, "Family Plot" is just an interesting little flick. It isn't "epic" (in any sense of the word) like some of Hitch's earlier fare, but it is just a fun little mystery/comedy that will sweep you away for two hours.

Another unusual experiment from Hitchcock, this is not a suspense thriller, but combination jewel heist/ kidnapping plot, with a pair of smalltime cons crossing paths with kidnappers (with a hidden room behind a brick wall in their basement, clearly inspired by Poe) It has its moments of effectiveness, particularly an out-of-control drive down a winding, mountainside road, and a daring kidnap in front of a congregation. Also benefits from a good cast: Bruce Dern is wonderful, Barbara Harris is good also, as his phony medium of a wife. William Devane does well also, but he looks like a 1970s porno version of Rod Serling, and Karen Black's character is just merely there, leaving little impact considering she is a main character.Hitchcock adapted well to the 1970s, he appears to be moving forward, rather than just go for nostalgia, and the film is all the more better for that, rather than resorting to more chases on Mount Rushmore. But I still prefer his penultimate, Frenzy, because overall, this looks like an extended episode of Columbo, minus the old guy in the raincoat.

It is nice to see that Family Plot is getting more recognition other than being the swan-song of one of the most influential directors in cinema. Despite Hitchcock being my favourite director, I wasn't sure whether I would like Family Plot after hearing from people, both on IMDb and outside, that it was one of his weakest. I'm glad I did see it(and I would have done anyway) because while it is not among Hitch's best(Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, Rebecca) it is nowhere near one of his weakest(Jamaica Inn, Under Capricorn, Topaz, The Paradine Case). True, the film is a little long, the story is convoluted and a few scenes are incoherent as a result and Karen Black's character could have been much more developed. Family Plot does look good though(if not one of his best-looking films like Vertigo, To Catch a Thief and The Trouble with Harry), both audacious and gritty and the photography services these very well. John Williams' score is jaunty and haunting, and sensibly more restrained than some of the bombast of his very best scores.The dialogue has strong bouts of fun and tension with good interplay between the cast, the humour though is more a subtle blend rather than busting-your-gut every minute. There is also a lot of innuendo that surprises you at how much the film gets away with. The story is convoluted but still intriguing and doesn't feel dull, there is still a good amount of mystery and tension amongst the fun. The sequence with the car out of control was the film's most memorable one, and it seemed that Hitchcock was paying homage here to all his previous work(ie. the attempted murder with the neck-tie almost reminiscent of Frenzy, to me anyway). Hitchcock's directing was taut and sly, I didn't detect any evidence that he didn't have his heart in it, yes maybe Dern and Harris' characters are much more developed than those of Black and Devane's but I put that down to the writing too. The acting is fine, none of the four lead players give performances that rank among the best of any Hitchcock film but I didn't expect that. I don't think Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris have done better since, William Devane is very chilling and quite brutal and Karen Black seems to be having fun despite her character not being as developed well as the rest.In conclusion, a good swan-song, and while not among the Master of Suspense's best I do think it gets a bad rap for either the viewer having too high expectations, or that it was a noble but failed attempt at doing something different or bad timing in a decade of disaster movies and with the likes of Spielberg, DeNiro and Pacino(I personally think it's a bit of all). And of course there'll be people who didn't care for it, and that's understandable, as while I did really enjoy Family Plot I can definitely see why people will find fault with it. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox