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.

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.

This film gets a bad rap because it was not a suspenseful blockbuster in the vein of "Psycho" and "The Birds". The fact is, is that after Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedrin did battle with seagulls in 1963, Hitchcock never again approached the heights of a major director and he dramatically slowed down his film output.

Still, this movie, along with 1964's "Marnie" and '72's "Frenzy" represent a decent effort by Hitchcock to stay current and hip with modern audiences. That he was still directing films at all in the 1960s and 1970s is quite remarkable for a man whose film work began in the silent era.

"Family Plot" is a fun, neat little comedy-thriller much akin to the NBC Mystery Movies of that era... i.e., "Columbo", "McMillen and Wife". Blanche is a phony psychic who, along with her reluctant boyfriend Frank, played hilariously by the underrated Bruce Dern, run afoul of big time crooks Karen Black and William Devane.

The plot does get a bit convoluted, but Hitchcock was smart enough to lay off the heavy-handed dictatorial directorship that categorized his earlier work and let the actors and their characters move the plot along. Unlike Cary Grant's Thornhill in "North By Northwest", we care about Blanche and Frank because they really are like us, the viewer. As much as we all adored the women in Hitch's films... Grace Kelly, Tippi Hedren, Kim Novak, and wanted to be like the men,Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewert, Ray Milland, Rod Taylor, Farley Granger, etc., none of these characters were remotely like US, and in his dotage, Hitchcock was still keen enough to realize that Cary Grant in 1956 was an admirable figure walking down the street... in 1976 he was apt to be pointed at and laughed about. Hitch knew INSTINCTIVELY that the gray suit and slicked back hair era was gone forever. In this film, it doesn't even look like Dern showers.

That's part of the charm and why it was so refreshing, at this late date, to go into the movie theater and enjoy an Alfred Hitchcock film without having to sigh that it was all about nostalgia. This film, in his humorous approach has much in common with "The Trouble With Harry" than "Psycho" or "Shadow of a Doubt".

Hitch didn't go out with a classic, that's for sure, but he went out with a modern film that showed he could still produce an entertaining flick. That was all he was ever about anyway. No higher praise is needed.

Get ready for the tricks and suspense you've seen in other films, but be sure to get the commentary on DVD. Barbara Harris looks just like Hitchcock's daughter, as you'll see from the interview, just a younger version. A extra lesson: You will never get a facelift once you see the interviews with Karen Black. If she had allowed herself to age naturally, she would have been so much more attractive than the gargoyle you'll wince at seeing.

Here's a treat: the winding mountain road and no brakes scenario as never you've seen it. I loved the comic touches and the risqué language. It is indeed a unique film. If you happen to love the mountain of California and San Francisco, you'll also love the cinematography. The stills are mostly of Hitchcock in the graveyard, which makes you wonder if he wasn't a little clairvoyant himself. The whole movie centers around a phony psychic and her attempt to cheat an old woman out of her money.

In our cynical world of today, you'll expect them just to dress Dern up as the missing heir, but nope, they play it straight. Having read of Hitchcock's misogyny, you'll appreciate the cuts and slices between the lovers. Both pairs of grifters have their own love thing going. Rather touching to see the fidelity among the crooks. Inspired writing, indeed.

Hitchcock did have a pacemaker installed while this movie was being made, so you have to wonder if his own thoughts of his impending death might have caused as much concentration on the graveyard scenes. Buy the DVD; the added features will make the movies itself 3 times more interesting.

"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.