Tough Subject, Great Movie | Chamber [VHS] | Chris O'Donnell, Gene Hackman

Passable. | Chamber [VHS] | Chris O'Donnell, Gene Hackman

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	• Chamber [VHS] Chris O'Donnell, Gene Hackman Universal Studios, 1997 average customer review:based on 22 reviews view larger image
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Entertaining, Thanks To Hackman & O'Donnell

You can thank Chris O'Donnell and Gene Hackman for two excellent acting performances which helped make this so entertaining in spots, because it's a bit talky.

O'Donnell plays young attorney "Adam Hall" (shades of Matt Damon's character in another John Grisham movie, "The Rainmaker"). Meanwhile, it's no surprise that Hackman gives us another fascinating performance, this time as the attorney's brutally racist grandfather, "Sam Cayhall."

He's been imprisoned for a murder and O'Donnell is trying to release him from a death sentence. Hackman's performance elevates from a "fair" to a "good" movie. While O'Donnell is trying to do his job, a few revelations occur considering his Klansman grandpa. Faye Dunaway also is in here and has a memorable scene with "Sam."

Yes, the national critics were right in that this could have been better but they were off base blasting this film. It's still an entertaining movie, and that counts for plenty.

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Tough Subject, Great Movie

There are a few fairly recent movies about the death penalty--Dead Man Walking, The Green Mile, The Life of David Gaye. To me, this one gives us more insight into all the appeals etc that lead up to an execution. I was interested to find out that the actual gas chamber at Parchman, Mississippi, was used in the chamber scenes of the movie. It has an unusual plot, in that a Klan killing from the 1960's took this long to come to execution. Murder should never be considered a cultural phenomenon, but the book/movie point out that Klan killings, at this point in our history, were not unusual. This role was so different for Gene Hackman, The Runaway Jury. I've become a big fan of all of Grisham's books and movies. I also enjoy them because they are usually set in/around the Memphis area (since I lived in that area when I was in the Air Force 20 years ago).

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Passable.

This film is really only good for two things.

1. Chris O'Donnell appears without his shirt on for one scene

2. Faye Dunaway plays a crazy drunk (ultimate camp!)

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Not the best Grisham movie

If I were to categorize all of the Grisham movies so far, it would go like this: 1. The Firm 2. The Pelican Brief 3. The Client 4. Runaway Jury (Hackman is better in this one) 5. A Time to Kill 6. The Rainmaker 7. A Painted House 8. The Chamber.

My favorites: The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, Runaway Jury, A Painted House.

Great Movie

This is a great movie. It was shipped immediately and the seller kept their word.

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A top cast consisting of veteran aces Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway can't rescue this way-too-long, dreadfully earnest version of John Grisham's equally gimpy novel. There are several problems in this story of an intertwined Southern family who must disentangle themselves from the past and the dark shadow of a 1967 bombing. That terrorist attack led to the deaths of two Jewish children and was pinned on the black-sheep patriarch of the family, a racist, card-carrying Klansman named Sam Cayhall (Hackman), who is now serving time on death row for the hate crime. Years later, the savior grandson cometh. Young-buck lawyer Adam Hall--played with righteous determination and limited range by Chris O'Donnell--pulls out all the stops to save his client from the Mississippi gas chamber. As is usual in Grisham country, the poor lawyer becomes embroiled in a plan more diabolical, corrupt, and layered than he could guess and the truth spirals out of control, endangering lives, and opening old wounds. The Chamber attempts to twist and turn through its plodding story, but there is no gray area in which to force the viewer to weigh his or her conscience against the skewed facts. Everything that occurs in The Chamber is black or white, good or bad, and there is no crisis of conflict to make us question the morality and stance of the two sides in play. The bad guys are awful, the politicians are bought off, the cops are either corrupt or apathetic, and only one puny guy is left to bring down a house of cards that's been standing solidly for decades. O'Donnell is quickly put to shame by Hackman, who even manages to suffer through a sadistically long, melodramatic stroll down death row with his dignity intact. --Paula Nechak

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