Family Plot

A phony psychic (Barbara Harris) and her boyfriend (Bruce Dern) cross paths with a pair of jewel thieves (William Devane and Karen Black).

Family Plot is most notable as the final film of legendary director Alfred Hitchcock. Unfortunately, the only way to enjoy the film is to pretend Hitchcock didn’t direct it.

While the film does have a few things going for it—Barbara Harris looks amazing and William Devane is a great villain—it’s very sloppy by Hitchcock standards. The lazy plot lacks any genuine thrills or tension, save for the finale, and the comedy is forced at best, such as during the fake séances, or would-be screwball at worst, such as Barbara Harris’s behavior with Bruce Dern as their car careens down a twisty mountain road.

Even the sporadic Hitchcock touches, like the scene to introduce Karen Black’s character, aren’t enough to overcome the general tediousness. This is a two-hour film told in a very deliberate fashion, but the story isn’t intriguing or amusing enough to warrant this level of detail.

Granted, all this is assuming you’re holding the film to the standards Hitchcock established with his fifty plus previous film. If it weren’t his name on the credits, Family Plot might be regarded simply as an uneven comedy thriller with flashes of inspiration and a great performance from William Devane. But with Hitchcock, you can’t help but expect more.