The Chamber
by James Foley
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Chris O'Donnell, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Raymond J. Barry, Robert ProskyDirector: James Foley
Brand: Universal Studios
Producer: Brian Grazer
Producer: David T. Friendly
Producer: John Davis
Producer: Karen Kehela Sherwood
Writer: Chris Reese
Writer: John Grisham
Writer: William Goldman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 113 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1998-05-27
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
Product features:
- DVD Details: Actors: Chris O'Donnell, Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway, Robert Prosky, Raymond J. Barry
- Directors: James Foley
- Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1; Number of discs: 1; Studio: Universal Studios
- DVD Release Date: May 27, 1998; Run Time: 113 minutes
Movie Reviews of The Chamber
Movie Review: BLUE GENE
Summary: 5 Stars
Gene Hackman's electrifying performance dominates this adaptation of John Grisham's best selling novel. Hackman portrays Sam Cayhall, a man who's been on death row for sixteen years for the bombing of a lawyer's office that resulted in the death of the lawyer's two children. Cayhall is a vile man, who has lived a life of hatred and prejudice, the result of generations of such bigoted ancestors. Enter Chris O'Donnell as his young grandson, who is a lawyer and wants to reopen the case and spare his grandfather the gas chamber. What ensues is a painful exploration of hatred, prejudice and a dysfunctional family.
I liked the movie, in spite of its several flaws. Hackman is phenomenal, and Chris O'Donnell does a good job as the naively innocent, but determined, young barrister. Faye Dunaway offers wonderful support as Hackman's estranged daughter who has lived a life of secrecy and guilt. Lela Rochon, Raymond Barry, David Marshall Grant and Robert Prosky offer fine support too.
I found myself involved in the movie, and feel it didn't offer any easy answers. Hackman is a guilty man, but his performance is so well doone that one can't help but feel sorry for the life he has chosen, and the life he has sacrificed.
I think it's well worth viewing.
Summary of The Chamber
CHAMBER - DVD MovieA 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
Adapted from John Grisham's novel, The Chamber does not live up to its potential, although it does come close. A fresh-faced Chris O'Donnell is the naive but insistent young attorney determined to appeal the case of Gene Hackman. The latter plays a unapologetic death-row inmate accused of killing two Jewish boys 30 years earlier. O'Donnell, we quickly learn, is the grandson of the murderous old cuss and has his own agenda for trying to save him. Meant more as a character study than a courtroom thriller, this never quite gels, as it leaves a few too many questions unanswered. However, it is well worth seeing for the performances, especially Hackman as the grizzled and nasty elderly convict. --Rochelle O'Gorman
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