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Family Plot
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==Reception== Released in the year of the [[United States Bicentennial]], ''Family Plot'' was chosen to open the 1976 [[Filmex]] (Los Angeles International Film Exposition) to honor American cinematography.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kapsis |first=Robert E. |title=Hitchcock: the Making of a Reputation |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1992 |page=115}}</ref> Barbara Harris was nominated for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical|Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical]] at the 34th Golden Globe Awards. ''Family Plot'' has received praise from many, if not all, critics. [[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' calls the film "a witty, relaxed lark", adding that it was "certainly Hitchcock's most cheerful film in a long time, but it's hardly innocent."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Canby |first=Vincent |author-link=Vincent Canby |date=April 10, 1976 |title=Screen: Hitchcock's 'Family Plot' Bubbles Over |journal=[[The New York Times]] |page=18}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] gives the film three out of four stars, saying of it: "And it's a delight for two contradictory reasons: because it's pure Hitchcock, with its meticulous construction and attention to detail, and because it's something new for Hitchcock—a macabre comedy, essentially. He doesn't go for shock here, or for violent effects, but for the gradual tightening of a narrative noose."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/family-plot-1976/ |website=RogerEbert.com |title=Family Plot |access-date=January 31, 2014}}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' calls the film "a dazzling achievement for Alfred Hitchcock. Masterfully controlling finely-tuned shifts from comedy to drama throughout a highly complex mystery-suspense plot, Hitchcock has created a film that has the involving detail work and teasing fascination of a novel to be read in front of a crackling fire on a rainy evening."<ref>{{cite journal |date=March 24, 1956 |title=Family Plot |journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |page=20}}</ref> [[Charles Champlin]] of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' praises the film as "atmospheric, characterful, precisely paced, intricately plotted, exciting and suspenseful, beautifully acted and, perhaps more than anything else, amusing."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Champlin |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Champlin |date=April 9, 1976 |title=The Hitchcock Spirit at 76 |journal=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=Part IV, p1}}</ref> [[Penelope Gilliatt]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' calls the film "one of the saltiest and most endearing" films Hitchcock ever directed, adding, "Sometimes in his career, Hitchcock has seemed to manipulate the audience; in this, his fifty-third film, he is our accomplice, turning his sense of play to our benefit."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Gilliatt |first=Penelope |date=April 19, 1976 |title=The Current Cinema |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |page=104}}</ref> Richard Combs of ''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' praises "the compact allusiveness and crisp elegance of Ernest Lehman's writing, which so deftly builds its own tongue-in-cheek attitudes into the material," and found that Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris made "a delightfully nuanced comic duet."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Combs |first=Richard |date=July 1976 |title=Family Plot |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=43 |issue=510 |pages=146–147}}</ref> [[Dave Kehr]] of the [[Chicago Reader]] calls the film "[A] small masterpiece, one of Hitchcock's most adventurous and expressive experiments in narrative form."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kehr|first1=Dave|title=Family Plot|url=https://m.chicagoreader.com/chicago/family-plot/Film?oid=1051516|website=Chicago Reader|date=29 March 1985 }}</ref> Some reviews are more critical. [[Gene Siskel]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' gives the film two-and-a-half stars and calls it a "disappointment", finding that it "descends into dull jokes, plastic characters, and a television sitcom conclusion."<ref>[[Gene Siskel|Siskel, Gene]] (April 13, 1976). "Hitchcock's old mastery runs cold in 'Family Plot'". ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''. Section 3, p. 5.</ref> Gary Arnold of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' calls the film "a chore to sit through", adding, "Lehman and Hitchcock are trying to recapture the old magic, but they've lost their touch."<ref>{{cite news |last=Arnold |first=Gary |date=April 9, 1976 |title='Family Plot': Hitchcock's Variations on a Theme |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |page=41}}</ref> ''Family Plot'' holds a 93% approval rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]], based on 40 reviews, and an average rating of 7 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads: "The Master of Suspense's swan song finds him aiming for pulpy thrills and hitting the target, delivering a twisty crime story with pleasurable bite."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/family_plot/ |publisher=[[Fandango Media]] |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |title=Family Plot (1976) |access-date=October 6, 2023}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 based on eight critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".<ref>{{cite web|title=Family Plot|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/family-plot|website=Metacritic}}</ref> The film earned $6.5 million in rentals.<ref name="nat" />
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