The Chamber (1996)

Very Cool!!!

Memorable, crazy movie

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The Chamber is directed by James Foley and adapted to screenplay by William Goldman and Phil Alden Robinson from the John Grisham novel of the same name. It stars Gene Hackman, Chris O'Donnell, Faye Dunnaway, Lela Rochon and Robert Prosky. Music is by Carter Burwell and cinematography by Ian Baker.Young attorney Adam Hall (O'Donnell) fights to keep his Klansman grandfather, Sam Cayhall (Hackman), from the gas chamber.Grisham famously slated the film, even shouldering some of the blame himself, it's not hard to see why. It's a legal drama without any drama, it plods aimlessly along, getting by on Hackman's fully committed performance. At times it forgets its legal duties and gets wrapped up in family strife, which would be OK if this aspect of the story had anything worthwhile to say, it doesn't, and you can see the cast and director straining to make a two hour talkathon worthy of your time. It isn't, sadly, making it the poorest Grisham adaptation to screen. 5/10

Most reviews on this site, neglect to mention how vividly the film captures the racist politics of the American South at this time. The actions of all politicians reveals how difficult it can be to seek justice. They are always looking sideways. Also the crowd outside the execution site shows how easy it is to stir up mob emotion. Again, nicely laid out and captured on film. The film visually translated Grishelm's understanding of Southern culture and politics. I also thought Chris O'Donnell captured the intensity of someone who is confronting his family's past. The camera work, which holds on his face, assists in helping us to see the quiet determination with which he works. (The camera is a good replacement for the interior monologue of fiction!)I also liked the flash-backs which help him to comprehend just where his father came from and why suicide might have been a response. This film is timely today in lieu of the polarization of American politics. Scary stuff!

If you like thrillers set inside the legal systems, the stories by Grisham is one of the best. He is a master of including both small and big twists and turns, writing in layers of secrets that can be revealed along the way. Although, according to the trivia, Grisham says this is one of the adaptations he likes least, I think it still is a very good movie that incorporates these layers and most of the essence in a Grisham story. Of course, the book is much more complex, much more intense, so if you like the movie I can really recommend reading the book.The Chamber is about the young lawyer, Adam Hall, that returns to his family's roots in Mississippi, where one of the family's dark secrets is hidden. His grandfather, Sam Cayhall, is on death row for a fatal bombing carried out by the Klu Klux Klan, scheduled to be executed in just a few days. Adam is his last chance. But Sam is not really cooperative, and even though the bombing was in the sixties, secrets are very much still in play, powerful and dangerous.I think the movie do capture enough of the book to be an intense and suspenseful movie, very much thanks to Gene Hackman's acting. Even though I have seen the movie a couple of times, read the book, I still find it intense. The movie is both durable and stands the test of time. That is the mark of a real good thriller.7/10

I know that probably goes for every book made into a movie ever made but for this one it really shows. The movie is good at times at portraying just why the book was so great and at other times cuts out some of the most important part of the film.The film gets the first 1/6th of the book done in about 10 minutes, fine, I can accept that, need to get to the center so people are not bored, it was only when after 2/6 of the book was after 30 minutes I started to get annoyed and I state this below...The middle just sort of cut to the chase and this bothers me, if anything, this is one of the worst things you can do to a book, they cut out a lot of the feel of the book in these first 30 minutes of the movie, and fans of the book should feel angered by this (Like Me).On the good side of the book, the film does pick up after the initial part, and by the end you have sympathy for all the characters (Much like the book). The film is definitely a tribute to the book by the end.Overall, fans of the book will like this movie after the initial stage, and while they do add a lot of stupid chunks of the movie (Adam Meets Rollie Wedge) the film does do well to the book.I rate this movie 62%.JOHN GRISAM RULES!!!