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Amazon.com Essential Video
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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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Acting that ought to knock anyone's socks off,
By Christina Brooks "grond99" (Sydney, N.S.W Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Chamber (Widescreen) (DVD)
"The Chamber" is long, quiet and infinitely better the second time around, which makes it pretty seriously good indeed. Whatever you think of the plot and the completely salient points it makes on the subject of capital punishment the true joys of "The Chamber" are the performances of Faye Dunaway and Gene Hackman each of which are nothing short of astonishing. Dunaway's creation of Cayhall's daughter is as powerful, multi-layered and profound as anything she has ever done. Gene Hackman deserves to be inducted into the great actors hall of fame for his portrayal of Sam Cayhall. As his execution draws closer his moods swing through the gamut of human emotion creating a complete and almost unbearably real but flawed human person facing certain death. A best actor oscar should have been given for this performance. If acting is your job or something that you see all too rarely ignore the carping critics who found their sensibilities rubbed the wrong way and get "The Chamber" it improves with each viewing and says some very deep things about life and exactly what it means to be human. Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Echo Chamber,
By
This review is from: The Chamber (Widescreen) (DVD)
The Chamber represents one of only two John Grisham novels that I've read over the years. For the most part, I have enjoyed the film adaptations of his books, regardless of whether or not I looked at the source material or not. While the film boasts another great performance from Gene Hackman, it's still lacking, especially when I compare it to the book.Adam Hall (Chris O'Donnell)is an idealistic young lawyer, who travels to Mississippi to plea for the life of an inmate, scheduled to die in the gas chamber in four weeks. The condemned man is an unyielding bigot, who happens to be the attorney's estranged grandfather, Sam Cayhall (Hackman). It is learned through a series of flashbacks, that the Cayhall family history is complicated, through Adam's visits with Lee (Faye Dunaway). Director James Foley tries his best...unfortunately nothing can help the film. It's clear almost from frame one that O'Donnell is miscast. His performance reminds me of a male teenager going through puberty. He just didn't have the necessary range to go toe to toe with Hackman. For his part, he does a fine job, but could have used support. Dunaway could have phoned it in--with better results. The film ruins any of the book's suspense. There's none of the guess work about what's gonna happen--I can only only say the book version is better...but not as good as the novel A Time To Kill. I think the folks at Universal knew what they had here. The DVD only has a few production notes and the theatrical trailer in the way of any extras. Given the film...that's a good thing. Save for Hackman you may want to just stick with the book.
3.0 out of 5 stars
not the best,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Chamber (Widescreen) (DVD)
This movie is about a young lawer trying to get his gramd father out of prison. The grandfather is on death row. In the end ol' grandfather gets gassed. Groos this movie was mot to great but the acting and bachgrounds were great. The plot was the worst ever.
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