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.

The best part of Hitchcock's final production is probably Barbara Harris's borderline character whose seemingly fruitless endeavors get entangled with a much less believable subplot without which the story, however, wouldn't have been the least suspenseful.The direction is overall decent with certain typical Hitchcock scenes such as a car race reminiscent of those in Suspicion and North by Northwest.Enjoyable if one disregards a number of rather apparent plot holes.And as usual with respect to the Master's pictures, I stop to wonder for a while whether there's a MacGuffin present or not...

Family Plot is definitely most famous for one thing. And that is that it was legendary director Alfred Hitchcock's last movie. It isn't generally considered amongst his better films; in fact many outright dislike it. For me, while I agree it's uneven, I find it very enjoyable and not such a bad way for the great man to bow out all things considered. It's about a con artist couple trying to get rich by means of having the woman pretend to be a psychic. Through this they are offered $10,000 by a rich elderly woman if they can find the son she put up for adoption forty years before. Their inquiries into the mystery put them on a dangerous path.You could say that this is a film about two crooked couples - the good-bad couple and the bad-bad one. The paths of both ultimately collide through fate and I suppose we are invited to compare both. The con artists are played by Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris, while the kidnappers are William Devane and Karen Black. All are good in their respective roles. As for Hitch himself, well it's not one of his most inventive films with not too many moments typical of him; although the introduction of the Karen Black character is very well done. Replete in blonde wig, shades and clad head to toe in leather, she looks very striking, she first appears when she steps out of the dark and is almost run over by Dern, thereby neatly inter-linking both strands of the story early on.If there is a clear weakness in the film, it's most probably that it cannot maintain both strands of the story without sacrificing the mystery element. For this reason, it's better earlier on. For the remainder of the movie Dern and Harris try to uncover what is going on but seeing as the audience know already it doesn't have much of an impact. I wonder if they had played up the mystery more, then this could have been a better film over all. But no matter because it still basically works. It essentially is a comedy-thriller. Sometimes combining both genres in one scene, for instance the sequence where a car with no brakes is hurtling down a mountain road. In this example, though, the combination of comedy and thrills doesn't entirely work because it's an exciting scene that is somewhat marred by Barbara Harris ridiculous comedy acting. In the main though, the comedy and suspense are kept apart which works far better. You could probably argue, however, that maybe the thriller side of the story doesn't go as far as it could. For example, the ending is very rushed and could have probably been thought out better. But, minor issues aside, I like this one.

Alfred Hitchcock directed this lighthearted suspense film, his last as it turned out. Barbara Harris plays scam artist and phony psychic Blanche Tyler, who stumbles onto a good thing when conducting a séance for elderly millionaire Julia Rainbird, who promises her $10,000 to locate her long-lost nephew, and would be heir. Blanche enlists the help of her boyfriend George Lumley(played by Bruce Dern) a taxi driver and private investigator to locate him, knowing only that he was adopted as a baby. This leads him to Arthur Adamson(played by William Devane) a wealthy jeweler and collector who also, with the help of his girlfriend Fran(played by Karen Black) are also kidnappers! Both couples get mixed up in each others affairs, until the climatic finale... Pleasant if unexceptional film is contrived but breezy and entertaining, proving to be an OK film for Sir Alfred Hitchcock to retire on.