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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 areseveral 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 ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Echo Chamber
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.

not the best
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.

Don't bother
About halfway through the book,"The Chamber", I discovered that the movie would be airing on television. It's pretty difficult to review a film that can barely hold your attention, steadily, for no more than half an hour. It lacks the gripping drama and suspense of the book and of other Grisham novel adaptations like "The Firm" and most especially "A Time to Kill".

With the exception of Gene Hackman as death row inmate Sam Cayhall, the casting is what most hurts this movie. Chris O'Donnell may have been the big "it" guy as far as young actors at the time this movie was made, but he just can't hack it in the role of a lawyer. Especially one who is defending his grandfather on death row. You'd expect a lot more emotion and charisma. O'Donnell's portrayal lacks this natural emotion and frankly, the confidence needed in general to be a convincing attorney. Lela Rochon is rarely good as anything but eye candy and since that is not her role here, she doesn't fit. In the most odd and questionable casting move, football player Bo Jackson as the death row warden? They shouldn't have adapted this great novel into a film, at least not at a time when the field of young actors was so scarce and undesirable.

The storyline is great but in the film it is so cut down that you're best off to just stick with the book version.

LONG BORING NOVEL = SHORT MOVIE THAT BOMBED
Chris O'Donnell, Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway star in this terrible boring movie based on John Grisham's novel.

O'Donnell stars as idealistic young attorney Adam Hall who takes on the death row clemency case of his onetime klansman grandfather, Sam Cayhall (Hackman). With just 28 days before the execution, Adam sets out to retrace the events leading to the crime for which Sam was convicted. As the impending death sentence looms closer, Adam works quickly to uncover the family's history for any - hidden clues.

There is a serious problem with the book and movie, the book is long and so boring and it's sad to say a bestseller. The movie is short and a obvious bomb. Usually John Grisham books are great, thrilling suspensful fun. While John Grisham's movies are long and good, there at least 150 minutes this one was 1 hour and 53 minutes. What happend here? I'll tell you a lousy novel equals a lousy movie.

Very good plot.
I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, if nothing else, to the movie. Al Pacino is great, and when Adam Cayhall shoots down all the monsters from mars, let me tell ya, you could watch it over and over again. I don't want to give away any secrets, but the highspeed eighteen wheeler chases across a busy highway in on coming traffic.... that takes you buy the throat and swings ya around, squeezing harder and harder and never letting go until it snaps, and your head falls down onto your chest, (because theres nothing holding it of course!) and snaps your collarbone with it... it splinters into many peices within your body. Anyway... I just would like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, and In my opinion, this was the best war movie yet. ... Read more

Description

Pandora: a top secret experimental U.S. military peacekeeping device with the capacity to destroy organic matter while leaving inorganic matter unharmed. When Pandora is stolen by renegade commando Bill Stenwick (Richard Tyson), John Lacy (Daniel Baldwin) is sent to recapture it. Lacy is the smartest, toughest agent from Secret Operations, and he also happens to be Stenwick's former mentor. When these two adversaries face off against each other, the fate of the world hinges on the outcome. DVD includes additional footage. Daniel Baldwin, Erika Eleniak, Richard Tyson ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Nothing I haven't seen better countless times before
The sole reason I watched that movie was that I usually like Daniel Baldwin's acting regardless of the quality of the film he's in. Afterwards I felt severely let down.

The plot is a sorry mix of what made up a couple of first-rate and lesser action movie these past years: a disappointed special agent turns, steals an ultra-secret army device which disintegrates people but not buildings and takes a city hostage. Still do-goody ex-partner tries to get device back and kill baddie with a James-Bond-like license issued by more-secret-than-secret inner government circles.

Can it get more cliched? No. And the oneliners, the distractors (must all would-be wives be silly non-supportive chicks who make you wonder why a 'super-hero' even is interested enough for marriage?) and the other characters are even more cliched.

This movie is a lot like zapping wildly through a couple of channels all showing direct-to-video action flicks. You know every action and reaction, the special FX are from the can or look like US army ads, the plot has twists which are telegraphed a mile ahead and the absolutely ridiculous car chase at the end is the lowest common denominator of them all.

I might have excused all this if I'd liked the acting, if there had been 'some' spark, some thing genuine and distinct in that movie. The impression however was of actors just moving through the set for the money, uncaring, not directed -- animated GI Joe and Co. show more acting ability.

The whole feel is tired, pre-fab, uncaring. Not recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Nothing I haven't seen better countless times before
The sole reason I watched that movie was that I usually like Daniel Baldwin's acting regardless of the quality of the film he's in. Afterwards I felt severely let down.

The plot is a sorry mix of what made up a couple of first-rate and lesser action movie these past years: a disappointed special agent turns, steals an ultra-secret army device which disintegrates people but not buildings and takes a city hostage. Still do-goody ex-partner tries to get device back and kill baddie with a James-Bond-like license issued by more-secret-than-secret inner government circles.

Can it get more cliched? No. And the oneliners, the distractors (must all would-be wives be silly non-supportive chicks who make you wonder why a 'super-hero' even is interested enough for marriage?) and the other characters are even more cliched.

This movie is a lot like zapping wildly through a couple of channels all showing direct-to-video action flicks. You know every action and reaction, the special FX are from the can or look like US army ads, the plot has twists which are telegraphed a mile ahead and the absolutely ridiculous car chase at the end is the lowest common denominator of them all.

I might have excused all this if I'd liked the acting, if there had been 'some' spark, some thing genuine and distinct in that movie. The impression however was of actors just moving through the set for the money, uncaring, not directed -- animated GI Joe and Co. show more acting ability.

The whole feel is tired, pre-fab, uncaring. Not recommended. ... Read more

Description

Finding your roots in the hood ain't easy. An accidental switch at an adoption agency sends a Chinese baby to an African-American family. Julian is accepted into the family and his tight-knit Atlanta neighborhood, but the search for a better life takes the family to South Central L.A., where his new neighbors think Julian is pretending to be black. For the first time in his life, Julian faces an identity crisis. "Fakin' da Funk" pokes fun at stereotypes and proves that what's in your heart is what's important. ... Read more