Trama macabra

I was with low expectations before watching this because I read a lot of negative reviews that said this was a not a good movie. I only bought it because this was the only missing film in "The Hitchcock Collection". Well, I saw it and I think it is great!It is a light movie, that mixes comedy with suspense and it's an enjoyable surprise. All of the comedy/light movies that Hitchcock made are underrated (see the example of "The trouble with Harry"(1955)) and I can't understand why.This has some scenes that demonstrate the mastery of Alfred Hitchcock, notably the car scene where one couple is inside a moving car with the brakes sabotaged.That scene is so well constructed that you actually can feel like you are in the car... Amazing!I watched in the "Making of" this picture someone saying that, at that time, people knew this would be the last Hitchcock movie it would have been received way better by the audience. I give it 8 of 10 because it's a joyful and great movie.

Hitchcock closes his career with this film with no further pretensions than to show his capacity creating good clasical cinema, which values are unfortunately much maligned nowadays.

A comedy with touches of suspense and intrigue (triangle without a base) where two apparently unrelated plots end up coming together in a suspenseful climax.

Glamor and elegance finally seem banished in this catch-up with the new times of the mythical director, but not his ability to impose interesting and ambiguous characters with whom the director expects us to identify.

The first scene is very long, and its comic tone seems somewhat crude and obvious, but from there everything picks up pace. The most surprising moment is the first change between the first and the second plot: when, after a very slow start, the plot seems to pick up pace, an abrupt change leads us into another plot that seems to be from a totally different movie. From there it's all about how those two plots come together and how those two movies become one.

In the cast, Bruce Dern and Karen Black stand out. I admit that I have never been enthusiastic about Barbara Harris's sense of comedy, often too evident and her exaggerated lack of sophistication can be somewhat rude.

It's not up there with the brilliant Frenzy (by far his best movie since the early sixties), but it's still a decent, fun, and interesting movie, from a director far from his best days, but who still had interesting things to say about the movies, their rhythm and structure.

Alfred Hitchcock's final film Family Plot is a story of two male and female criminal partnerships. The first pair is Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris who are a pair of small time grifters and we meet them in the process of fleecing a rich old spinster Cathleen Nesbitt with a phony psychic act.

The second pair are William Devane and Karen Black who have a lovely line in ransom kidnappings. They've really got it worked out to a science, including a soundproof hidden room in Devane's basement where the victims can be stashed until the ransom is paid.

Nesbitt confesses that she had her late sister give up an out of wedlock child during a séance and now she'd like to make amends by finding him and making him her heir. So with a finder's fee in mind Dern and Harris start digging.

Their paths cross Devane and Black as the police are hunting them so it becomes quite an interesting set of circumstances as Devane and Black suspect the others of being police operatives.

Hitchcock cleverly interweaves the stories of the two couples into a very cohesive plot. The players all hit the mark with their roles,] especially Devane, a smooth talking killer in the Hitchcock tradition of Otto Kruger in Saboteur, Tom Helmore in Vertigo, and James Mason in North By Northwest.

The ending is a bit of a surprise though, it comes rather abruptly. I have to confess I didn't like it at first, but it does kind of grow on you with repeated viewings.

Family Plot is a good for the master of suspense to go out on.

"Family Plot" is remembered only for being Hitchcock's last film. The ending to his successful career could be have been more honorable. "Family Plot" is merely a light entertainment movie - nothing more, nothing less. But it works as that. The plot is enjoyable to follow and the members of the cast (especially William Devane) do a creditable job. But remember that the director was no longer at his peak, so don't expect anything in the lines of his masterpieces, like "Vertigo" or "Psycho". And John Williams' barely memorable score pales in comparison with Bernard Herrmann's masterful accomplishments.

Having seen "Torn Curtain" about a year ago, I wasn't all that enthusiastic about seeing another of Hitchcock's "late" works (indeed, his final film). "TC" was absolutely abysmal, as reflected in my comments there, so I had no great expectations for "Family Plot." I was pleasantly surprised, however. Although true Hitchcock buffs may not rank "FP" alongside the "classics" like "Psycho" and "NxNW," "FP" is an evenly-paced film with strong central characters, an interesting supporting cast, good acting, humor, innuendo, mystery and, of course, suspense. A good all-around film by the master in his final effort. It won't leave your palms sweating and your blood running cold, and there are a couple of flaws that a younger Hitch might have caught (I, for one, wonder how Blanche's car got fixed so quickly -- hard to believe it wasn't totaled in the first place).

Nonetheless, Family Plot will hold your attention and keep you guessing until the very end. I'm glad I took the time to seek it out and watch it.