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
Producer: Brian Grazer
Producer: David T. Friendly
Producer: John Davis
Producer: Karen Kehela
Writer: Chris Reese
Writer: John Grisham
Writer: William Goldman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.35:1
Running Time: 113 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1998-05-27
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of The Chamber
Movie Review: Entertaining, Thanks To Hackman & O'Donnell
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Summary of The Chamber
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 NechakDrama DVD Video
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