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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Average Rating:
Rating: - 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.
Rating: - 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!)
Rating: - Can we presume to be better than God?
Apart from the emotional content due to the fact that a grandson defends his grandfather who is going to be executed for a racist crime, the films deals with the death penalty with great sympathy and ethical enlightenment. It also reveals with some silent moments here and there that the decision to execute the murderer is not at all taken for real moral reasons but only for political reasons. The governor finally gives the go-ahead message and refuses to pardon the murderer or even to stay the execution for some new investigation in some facts that appeared at the very last minute, and this under pressure from a crowd and he even announces his decision in front of this crowd and TV cameras. This is what is particular unbeareable about the death penalty : the final decision is always taken by some elected politician who turns it into his own political campaign Just for that reason it is unethical. The film also reveals ... Read More
Rating: - Not Bad, but Not Great either
The Chamber was a bit of a disappointment considering the make-up of the cast: Chris O'Donnell and Gene Hackman among others.
The film sheds light on a young lawyer who decides to defend his grandfather, a member of the KKK, in an effort to prevent his execution from being carried out.
In short, the acting, the dialogues, and the plot are pretty good, though it lacks that extra something to put it over the top.
In a nutshell, it's probably not a movie you would want to add to your collection, but it will provide for an evening's entertainment, and that's about it.
No masterpiece here... 3 Stars
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- Passable.
