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Memorable, crazy movie

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

This last Hitchcock film may seem out of step with all of the others, but then it has to be. The sexual/cultural revolution is over. The cynical 70s are in full swing. You can't just insinuate "the act" anymore and cut to the seashore.Into this environment comes "Family Plot". It is basically two sets of crimes, one minor and one major, hitting an intersection with one group of criminals having no idea what the other group is up to.Blanche Tyler (Barbara Harris) is a fake psychic. She has her cabbie boyfriend get information for her based on the hints she gets from the séances. In this case a wealthy woman, Julia Rainbird, claims her sister's spirit and her own conscience torment her because in 1933 she made her sister put her illegitimate child up for adoption because of the scandal that would have occurred given the conventions of the times. Nobody knows what happened to him since the adoption was closed. Now Julia Rainbird, in her old age, wants to accept her nephew into the family and leave the entire estate to him. There is 10K in it for Blanche if she can find him.What Blanche and cabbie lover George (Bruce Dern) don't know is that the long lost heir is basically Lex Luther with hair - William Devane as Arthur Adamson, a true sociopath who loves thumbing his nose at conventions and loves crime. Together he and his girlfriend, Fran (Karen Black) kidnap wealthy people in exchange for jewels. Adamson has a legitimate business as a jeweler as a front.The misunderstandings come in when Adamson discovers that somebody is digging into his past, specifically his faked death which was a cover for the murder of his adoptive parents back in 1950. Blanche and George can't figure out why they would be getting attempts on their life. Adamson has no idea of his true identity and has no idea why these two amateurs are trying to find him, figuring it has either to do with his current kidnappings or the past murder of his parents.It all comes together in a suspenseful and comical way. I'll let you watch and find out how.Blanche and George are a hilarious couple just perfect for 1975. In one scene, at the end of the day, she is basically ordering him to come inside the house and sexually service her. George replies she is wearing him out and he has to work tomorrow. She asks "what are you saving it for?". This is a long way from the stolen glances, passionate kisses, and hand holding in "Dial M For Murder", but this is a different time and they are just right for it.Even at the end Hitchcock did know how to change with the times. I'd recommend it.

Dear Al Pacino,I read that you rejected the lead role in this Hitchcock film. You went and made Bobby Deerfield instead. It would have been cool to see you in a Hitchcock film. Even though this is nowhere close to Hitch's best.Two sets of criminal couples (one murderous and the other one just small time crooks) are at odds with each other in this mysterious comedy.The film is a bit of an oddity in Hitch's filmography. There are some great directorial flourishes. The séance scene at the beginning is very mysterious and funny, John Williams score was pretty good. The scene in the car with the fake background that followed the séance was also great. The car going crazy was a great action scene. But some of the scenes go on for too long, the background score was unremarkable in places. De Palma did say that Hitch breaking up with Herrmann affected his last few films.Karen Black and Barbara Harris are beautiful in their own right, but when you consider all the beautiful women filmed by Hitch, they are right at the bottom of the list. I've never been that big a fan of Bruce Dern. I would have loved to see you in his role, Al. William Devine looked menacing with his toothy sinister smile.Overall, I'm not surprised you rejected this.Best Regards, Pimpin.(6/10)

Phony spiritualist Blanche Tyler (Barbara Harris) and her taxi-driver boyfriend George Lumley (Bruce Dern) stand to earn $10K if they can locate the lost lost nephew of an elderly millionairess. Their search for the missing man leads to a pair of ruthless kidnappers (played by William Devane and Karen Black) who are none too keen to have people prying into their business.It took Alfred Hitchcock four years to follow up his excellent psycho-sexual thriller Frenzy (1972) with Family Plot, during which time the director suffered from several bouts of ill health that clearly took a toll on his creativity: Hitch's final film is an unremarkable crime caper from an ailing film-maker whose heart no longer seems to be in his work.Gone are the brilliantly orchestrated scenes of tension and suspense for which the distinguished director is renowned; instead we get something that feels like a TV movie-of-the-week, complete with corny characters, hammy performances and ill-advised humour (Blanche losing her cool in a careening car with no brakes is desperately unfunny, a real low-point in Hitch's career).

When people state it's a good Hitchcokian film, I tend to believe it really is. However, it is not the case in here. I may admit the plot seems very interesting and original, from the get go, but the outcome just doesn't deliver. You know, for a plot two hours long, spectator REQUIRES some surprising twist or something, but in this case, filmmakers end this with no big events or anything. One of the some good scenes is when Blanche and Tyler go down on the road-- it's pretty agonizing, be careful. Other than that, there are good actors that truly engage the story, but that isn't enough to fill out the seek for a complete story we all expect. Maybe that's why it's one of the most infamous Hitchcockian's movie.