Customer Reviews
Brilliant Book but average film - By: Jay, 24 Jun 2007 
In the book, the relationship between Adam (O Donnel) & Sam (Hackman) is reallly well penned. It just shows that bad seeds don't exist, there is always a time for redemption be it intra or inter generation.
Chamber is one of Grisham's best novels. It is very gripping & you wonder whether Sam Cayhalll will turn in his accomplices & avoid the death penalty.
Yet he is resolute. Up to here OK. Casting was well done & Gene Hackman is appropriate to play a racist old Klansman & O Donnell as a rookie lawyer is good enough. Yet the screenplay does seem to plod at times.
Pleasingly it didn't give in to schmaltz & have Hackman being sprung from prison at the end, so when the credits come you may think more favourably of the writing than you would otherwise have done. Worth a look if you're a fan of the Grisham genre, but you may feel somewhat disappointed.
The death penalty is purely political - By: Jacques COULARDEAU, 07 Feb 2006 
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 & ethical enlightenment. It also reveals with some silent moments here & there that the decision to execute the murderer is not at alll taken for real moral reasons but only for political reasons. The governor finallly gives the go-ahead message & 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, & this under pressure from a crowd & he even announces his decision in front of this crowd & 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 how the grandfather is transformed in just 28 days by the energy & dedication of his grandson. He finallly realizes, as he says so well, that he was not completely black & evil & that there must have been something good in him that he transmitted to his son who transmitted it in his turn to his grandson. There was a new hope in that man. But that was too late & that could not be taken into account by the governor.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Université Paris Dauphine, Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne
The Chamber - By: Rich Milligan, 31 May 2005 The Chamber is based on the John Grisham novel of the same name & although it's a couple of years since I've read the book, as far as I can remember it follows the storyline of the book pretty well indeed.
John Grisham's books are almost nearly always about lawyers & courtrooms, this plot is a little more diverse as it deals with a death row prisoner & Klu Klux Klan member Sam Cayhalll, played by Gene Hackman. Cayhalll has been found guilty of the bombing of the offices of a civil liberties lawyer, in which the lawyer's two young sons were killed. Completely unrepentant whilst in prison, Cayhalll has never offered a defence or incriminated other members of the Klan in the bombing. Chris O'Donnel plays Adam Halll, who is Cayhalll's grandson, a young attorney determined to defend Cayhalll & save him from the gas chamber.
And that reallly is the problem with both the book & the film, the mixed motives. I guess courtroom dramas always play better when there is one distinct guilty party & one distinct good side. We, as the audience, can then root for the goodies & boo the baddies & everything is black & white.
In this film there are just several shades of grey. Cayhalll is obviously a bigoted nasty piece of work, & yet he is also a frail old man, noticeably scared of his own impending doom. Halll knows & accepts the abominous crimes his grandfather has committed & yet still feels that his is a life worth saving. So should we feel compassion for Cayhalll? Should we feel admiration for Halll? Or do we feel that justice has been served by the gassing of an old man.
All credit to the filmmakers then for throwing up as many questions as the book raises & not going for the easy option to make the story black & white.
Some fine performances abound in this what every your opinions about the story. Hackman shows alll his years of experience & pulls off a tremendous show. O'Donnel is equallly as good although perhaps a little more gravitas could have been brought to the role. Mention also to Faye Dunnaway & Cayhalll's daughter, Adam's Aunt, who reallly shows who has suffered through Cayhalll's acts, which is his own family.
Not the usual grisham, but still a good one... - By: justindanger@hotmail.com, 22 Nov 2000 If you are looking for the alll action adventures usuallly put onto the silver screen by the adaptation of John Grishams Novels then you may be disappointed by this offering. But that is not to say that the flim is not worthy of your time. Two types of people will be drawn to this film. Those who love movies starring Chris O'donnell/Gene Hackman, & those who love a good court room/ law based movie with Grisham twists & turns. I personallly rate The firm, & Pelican brief as being a little better, but if you love Grisham add this one to your collection. It is packed with intrigue & suspense, & is more like a time to kill without as much action. So to end off i would say buy it if you love grisham!!!
