The Chamber

Starring: Chris O'Donnell, Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway, Robert Prosky, Raymond J. Barry, Bo Jackson, Lela Rochan, David Marshall Green, Jane Kaczmarek
Directed by: James Foley
Rating: R
Genre: Thriller, Action
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A young lawyer (Chris O'Donnell) travels to the south to defend his racist grandfather (Gene Hackman), who is sentenced to be executed.

Review:

Tim: I'm a big fan of John Grisham movies- I've really enjoyed The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, and Runaway Jury. That's surprisingly consistent. I actually enjoyed The Chamber as well, although I'd say it is the weakest of the films listed. Still, it's an entertaining, solid movie that I had fun watching.

In some ways, The Chamber is a more challenging story than those others. It firmly focuses on the ugliness of racism. That's oftentimes hard to watch, especially when one of the main characters is such a despicable racist. That doesn't make the movie any less effective- it's really important for films to tackle subjects like this. However, this film is probably slightly less enjoyable because of the subject matter. The story itself is less effective than some of those aforementioned Grisham films. It's good, but it's certainly not among Grisham's best. That is apparent while watching the movie and is a huge reason why this isn't as good as those other films.

The cast is decent, but certainly not filled with the kind of talent we'd expect. Chris O'Donnell is decent in the lead role. He's certainly game for this and gives the performance his all. He has moments, but as a whole, he wasn't as effective as he needed to be. It might not be fair to compare leads, but O'Donnell isn't at the level of a Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Tommy Lee Jones, Matthew McConaughey, Matt Damon, or John Cusack. He's a tier below them and this movie suffers as a result. I loved seeing the great Gene Hackman here, but he was such an unlikable character. I give him credit for embracing this difficult role and trying to find the humanity in someone we could easily dismiss as a monster. His performance is one of the best parts of the film. I liked seeing Faye Dunaway here, but her character didn't make as big of an impact as it could have. She has a couple of the film's most powerful moments, but other scenes felt forced and ineffective. I always enjoy seeing Robert Prosky. This is a film that has a bunch of talent, but it felt like director James Foley didn't quite get everything he could have out of them.

As in all Grisham's movies (that I've seen), this movie offers a fascinating look at the world of law. This one might not have showed us things that were as riveting as others, but it was still entertaining to see this world depicted by someone who knows what he's talking about.

I enjoyed The Chamber and consider it a good movie, but it's certainly one of the less effective John Grisham legal films.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, Runaway Jury