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Visitors Review

Glyn Ingram 2012-05-23 17:39:13

A wonderful adaptation of a wonderful novel

Nothing annoys me more than sitting through a film I consider to be verygood, or perhaps even excellent, and then reading reviews about itafterwards that are wholly negative and often very untrue in theirdescriptions. "The Chamber," released in 1996, and based on John Grisham'snovel from two years earlier, is one such movie. Having read both the bookand having seen the film, I draw two conclusions. The first is that Ibelieve the movie to be as good (Perhaps even better) than Grisham's novel.The second is that the movie is a great piece of film-making; one of the mostmature, thoughtful and intelligent to have come out of Hollywood in the pastfew years, especially when one takes into account that it's dealing withsome very complex themes and issues.Gene Hackman plays Sam Cayhall, the racist bigot from America's ole' South,whose been on death row for several decades, following his involvement inthe unintentional murder of a Jewish family. Cayhall has a month to live,and, just as even he has given up on any hope of a successful appeal, theold man gets a visit from his grandson lawyer, Adam Hall (Competently playedby Chris O'Donnell). Adam is determined to get his grandfather off the row(Much to Sam's annoyance), and sets about digging up his family's past inthe hope of discovering the truth surrounding the crime that Samcommitted.The truly great thing about "The Chamber" (And perhaps something which JohnGrisham, its author, deserves the credit for) is that right from the openingscenes, we are never unsure about Sam's guilt. He's as guilty as sin. Thisis unlike Tim Robbin's "Dead Man Walking," (A film which many critics claimis superior and are forever comparing "The Chamber" to), where the audienceis almost wrongfully 'Conned' into believing its protagonist's innocence,presumably in the hope of us sympthasing with him all the more. But, with"The Chamber," although Sam Cayhall is a spiteful, hateful and guiltysinner, we sympathise with him because we sympathise with O'Donnellsall-too-true belief that he still doesn't deserve to die. After all, how cansomeone whose been brought up and raised in such a dreadfully racist andhateful environment turn out to be any better than Sam?The film is an important character study, as much as what it is a study ofsuch afore-mentioned important themes(s). It never shies away from dealingwith issues such as racism, making the 'Showdown' scene towards the endbetween Cayhall and one of his sickening 'Admirers' to be all the morebrilliant.The film has faults, sure. For instance, Faye Dunaway as Adam's alcoholicAunt struggles manically, and gives a much too dramatic and theatricalperformance for this film. Gene Hackman also has some trouble in a verydifficult role, although he's much more effective in the later scenes, wherehe begins to realise his mistakes. Perhaps the film's biggest mistake is inits failure to develop a proper character out of 'Rollie Wedge' (RobertProsky), the man who may or may not have been involved in the terriblemurder that Sam is now on death row for.I rarely cry in movie, but I cry every time I watch "The Chamber;" not justduring the suitably hard-to-watch and claustrophobic closing scenes, butalso during the final sequences between Sam and his grandaughter. It's atruly touching piece of film-making, and a very thought provoking andintelligent one. If only a better director had been at the helm, and the oddperformance had been touched up a bit, this picture would have been aninstant classic.

2012-05-23 04:07:41

Book or Movie?

I have read the book and seen the movie and have to admit that this movie did not reach it's full potential. This movie is about a Sam Cayhall(Hackman), a convicted murderer of two young Jewish boys in a Ku Klux Klan bombing. Cayhall has sat inside his little cell in the MSU of the Mississippi state penitentary counting the days until that faitful day when he takes his last breath in the chamber. His grandson Adam Hall('o Donnell) will not stand for it. As a lawyer he has been interested in this perticular case for many years and will not give up until he wins. He fights along the side of his bitter and hateful kin, putting up with every back stabbing comment only to get this man the freedom that most people think that he does not deserve. Now at the age of 70, he will have to fight until time runs out.I understand that sometimes people have to cut things from the movie because they feel that it is not making it any better, but this is RIDICULOUS! While watching this movie, I felt like it was a two minute long movie. He kills, he fights, he dies. That is basically it. All of the good side plots have been cut. Being a big fan of these types of movies and books, this proved to be a major dissapointment to me. I actually feel bad for such an excellent actor like Gene Hackman to be involved in this monstrosity! He gave an excellent performance and THAT is worth watching. Everything else is just an eyesore. JUST READ THE BOOK (it may be long, but worthwhile)!After reading the book, I was quite surprised at how much important information was cut. Though there is some excellent talent in this film, it still falls way short of any awards. I think that anybody would be better off reading the book than watching this movie. You should definitely read the book first and maybe even (ugh) see the movie. Compare the two and help me prove my point. The only reason that I gave this movie any stars was because I was pleased with the acting, not the script!

JoeytheBrit 2012-05-22 01:36:44

Unremarkable, but inoffensive

Spoilers.This is a wholly unremarkable, but also inoffensive, adaptation of aJohn Grisham novel that serves only to make me believe I haven't reallymissed a lot by never reading any of the good Mr. Grisham's work. Theplot follows a familiar template for the legal thriller: the dynamicyoung lawyer taking on a lost cause (for whatever reason), theunsympathetic villain languishing on death row, the increasinglydesperate legal measures taken by the lawyer to win the day, thebehind-the-scenes political intrigues that assure as many obstacles aspossible are put in the lawyer's way. Usually, the prisoner receives alast minute reprieve, but not in this case; here we join racist redneckGene Hackman in his last few moments as he is strapped into theeponymous chamber and struggles to hold his breath while the poisonousgas swirls invisibly around him. Foam issues from his mouth as the gastakes effect, and you wonder why you had to see that. The only reason Ican think of is because the film was made one year after Dead ManWalking.Gene Hackman is as good as you'd expect him to be; he must be one – ifnot the – greatest actors of his generation, and he makes young ChrisO'Donnell look wholly insipid. To be fair to O'Donnell, there isn'tthat much in his character to grab hold of – the only characteristic hehas is the desire to see his grandpappy saved from the chamber. Andwhen the poor lad isn't being acted off the screen by Hackman he has tocontend with Faye Dunaway giving one of the better performances of herlater career as Hackman's alcoholic daughter, who is haunted by themistaken belief that she may have prevented a murder she witnessed as achild had she not chosen to remain silent at the fateful moment.The Chamber isn't a classic by any measure, but it's probably betterthan its rating on this site might lead you to believe, althoughjudging by some of the comments you might enjoy it more if you haven'tread the book on which it is based.

chuck-195 2012-05-21 05:44:02

Excellent

Just like the book, this movie is amazing. The story is unique in thesensethat it is very personal. A boy's grandfather is to be executed formurdering two small children, and as he investigates the crime further, hediscovers more terrifying secrets about his grandfather and his past. Heknows little about his roots because his father commited suicide when hewasa kid, and this may be the only chance he has at discovering who he is,however unpleasant it may be. Chris Odonnel is great in this and GeneHackman shines. I give this **** out of **** stars.

2012-05-11 19:18:22

Dreadful, I mean, really

This was one of the first movies I saw with my now-wife. She wanted to see it because she likes Chris O'Donnell, and I agreed because...well, it's one of those things you have to do when you start dating someone. Today I would tell her, "No way, no Grisham movies. Go with your sister." At least I would think about telling her that, before I stuck my tail between my legs and said, "Coming, dear".The movie is about a young lawyer (O'Donnell) who sets out to help his racist redneck murderer grandfather (Gene Hackman) escape the gas chamber. O'Donnell does this out of some sense of grandfilial duty, and I found myself thinking, wait, I'm supposed to ROOT for this kid to get this repulsive creature off the hook? Hackman's character planted a bomb that killed two little Jewish kids, not the sort of crime you shrug your shoulders over and say, "Que sera sera". That's the kind of crime the dealther penalty is for.Suffice to say there are reasons why Hackman shouldn't be executed, but I found the whole scenario kinda flimsy. The whole movie, actually, is pretty flimsy. O'Donnell is perhaps the blandest actor working today, and here he gives as vacant a performance as I've ever seen. He says every line with virtually no inflection, no modulation in his voice, as though he was mildly sedated (lucky guy). O'Donnell's boy-next-door looks (well, boring boy-next-door) do not make up for his robotic acting. When they make a biopic about Al Gore, O'Donnell gets the part. No idea what my wife sees in him.Hackman is not a boring actor, but this role leaves him few options. With long greasy gray hair and a thicket of beard, Hackman looks like a puffy Willie Nelson. His character is a mean, racist, nasty piece of work, and Hackman is certainly actor enough to pull it off. But he spends too much time yelling and screaming, and that's all wrong. One of Hackman's greatest strenghts is projecting menace behind a smile. When Hackman is standing next to you, that arrogant sneer on his face, whispering softly into your ear, that's when you know you're in big trouble. Think back to "No Way Out" and "Unforgiven", just to give two examples. But get him screaming and waving his arms around and you've won.Even so, O'Donnell simply cannot compete with Hackman on screen. It's like Mike Tyson taking on Richard Simmons. Maybe Hackman's histrionics were an attempt to make up for the vaccuum created by O'Donnell. The movie has one redeeming feature, and that is the performance of Bo Jackson. Bo has the small but pivotal role of the prison guard assigned to watch over Hackman, and he's excellent. Unlike most athletes-turned-actors he doesn't overact just to show that he CAN act. He speaks quietly without coming across like an automaton like O'Donnell, yet has enough of a screen presence that he easily hangs with Hackman. I'm not saying that Bo is ready for King Lear, but he's a better actor than O'Donnell, and Chris never made the All-Star team AND the Pro Bowl in the same year. So why hasn't Bo been in like 30 movies since then? I got the answer awhile back when I was listening to a sports radio show with Bo as guest. He was so releaxed and happy it made you sick. When asked to describe a typcial day in retirement, Jackson said that he took his kids to school in the morning, played golf with his buddies, ate lunch with his wife, swam a bit, picked up his kids, made dinner for everyone, and then rented a movie or played games with his kids. As content as a man can be. He certainly doesn't feel the need to be in boring movies with the likes of Chris O'Donnell. So in addition to pretty much everything else, Bo Knows when to call it quits.

eric262003 2012-05-11 12:06:12

A Grisham Adapted Disappointment

A few years ago, I read the novel "The Chamber" by John Grisham and Ithought it was a spectacular reading experience. Then, in 1996, theyreleased it in the theatres and I was hoping that the outcome wouldturn out on a positive note, just like the novel. Also I was hopingthat very talented performers like Chris O'Donnell, Gene Hackman andFaye Dunaway would grace the screen like they've done before. However,the high expectations were sadly shattered. Nothing exciting happens as opposed to what's in the book, there's verylittle happening here, the acting is very wooden and the actors werewoefully miscast. On a positive note, some stuff from the novel werebrought into the movie. So for those who never read the novel or seenthe movie, I won't give too much away. But those who expected anequally riveting novel to movie adaptation, you will be disappointed. One thing that upset me most here is the different characteristicsbetween Adam Hall in the novel and Adam Hall (Chris O'Donnell) in themovie. In the novel, Hall is a typical attorney who's a bit green anddoes not know what to expect. In the movie, he's made like a big-shotwho can get by in this case like a piece of cake. Okay, I understand we can't cram everything from the novel, becausethen it would take too long, and we're not all patient for a three hourmovie; so I respect that. I think the movie had it's mind on cutting tothe chase rather than unravelling the events that led to the scenes. Inthe end it's just better that you all should just read the book andforget about the film.

srinath_p1988 2012-05-04 03:06:53

A bad adaptation of the Book

I have read the book by John grisham and i was not greatly impressed byhis work . But the book was a worth read, it had some nice moments andthe mood throughout the book was good. I expected a good adaptation ofthe book in this movie even though the rating was below 6. But what isaw was the opposite. Right from the start there has been many changesin the plot. I do understand the movie would have been more boring ifadam and sam had been just talking most of the time but it made sensein the book and the movie is senseless. A few characters in the bookwere totally missing here and some new characters have sprung up fromnowhere which r not in the book. I didn't like the casting of sam aswell. If u liked the book, so be it, don watch this movie.. Even if u dinlike the book, don watch it..It is no way near the book..

2012-05-03 14:07:04

The Chamber Pot

This review is from: The Chamber (DVD) I would advise anyone who plans to read Grisham's spell-binding book, The Chamber, to see the movie first. Then read the first rate book. The actors were all fine. Worth watching Chris O'Donnell. But, it was hard to believe how the screenwriter mangled the story. And the casting. . .did they really expect anyone to believe Faye Dunaway as Adam's aunt. Please. She could have played his grandmother, who wasn't in the book but what difference does that make? The story was so convoluted, I half expected the governor to give the (not nearly skinny enough)Gene Hackman a Stay of Execution. Not a totally bad movie; but very disappointing.

Grann-Bach 2012-04-26 08:46:32

It's not bad, it's just not that far above average

I haven't read Grisham's novel(nor really any of his others, with maybeone odd exception... and I do mean *odd*, the one I'm referring to isSkipping Christmas), nor watched too much other stuff of Foley's(Fear,and maybe one or two others), so I don't really know too much abouteither(but I haven't really found any of the latter's to be *amazing*).The plot is good, and it develops fine throughout. Story-telling ismostly reasonable, though there are a few places where it could reallyuse help. The pacing isn't bad. The acting is usually great. O'Donnellis a surprise, a pleasant one, Hackman and Dunaway are magnificent(forthe very most part), as usual. The film seldom, if ever, stoops to thelowest common denominator. Cinematography doesn't really impress.Editing is at times effective, and for the most part, it's sharp and,at the very least, sufficient. There are some good scenes in this, andit does tend to keep you interested and entertained. The continuinguncovering of the truth never lost me, on either of my two viewings. Itdoesn't really bring anything new to the table, or anything that youmustn't do without to the media of film. But that's not a crime, andyou certainly could do considerably worse. I recommend this to fans ofthe people involved in making this, perhaps even fans of the author...even if he has said it's his least favorite adaptation. 6/10

wildhart 2012-04-26 02:28:21

Hackman's performance is stellar

For me, this is the best role of Hackman's career, and one of Oscar'smost overlooked roles. His character was as revolting, cold, andrepugnantly racist as a human being could be, but Hackman played SamCayhall as a person with a surprising depth and emotion that, althoughyou couldn't exactly like him, you find yourself quietly hoping hisdeath penalty will be overturned as he plumbs the depths of his evildeeds and confronts his past. The scene when Fay Dunaway's Lee Cayhall Bowen comes to see Sam in thehours before his execution is as good as it gets. Lee asks if Sam wouldhave killed Joe Lincoln when she was young had she spoken up, Sam tellsher yes. You KNOW, you SEE, that he wouldn't have, but in seeing thetoll that the guilt of a lifetime of believing it was her fault hadexacted from his daughter, Sam lied. Sam redeemed her sanity in thatlie, gave her life the peace she never had and, in many ways, redeemedhimself.Although Dunaway is only 11 years younger than Hackman, she handilypulls off the role of Cayhall's emotional, conflicted and alcoholicdaughter Lee. She has spent her life hiding from whom she is, both fromthe community and herself, the crimes of her father, and the stigma ithas brought.Chris O'Donnell is just as good as Sam's grandson, Adam Hall, who isnow a lawyer. Hall's father had changed the family surname to alsoescape the stigma of being the son of the murdering Klansman Cayhall.Apparently by design, Hall works for the firm who handles hisgrandfather's case, although he keeps his grandfather's identity asecret until he requests to take on the final death penalty appeal.Along the way, Hall learns the unpleasant reality of who he is, thebitter hate and ugliness bred into his grandfather, and insight intothe truth of why his father had committed suicide when Hall was a youngboy.This film, although unpleasant in theme, is full of stellarperformances and by far the most nuanced and conflicted character GeneHackman has ever played. If you haven't seen The Chamber, get it, it'sworth the watch.

2012-04-25 11:59:10

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.

wes-connors 2012-04-24 17:29:52

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Idealistic attorney Chris O'Donnell (as Adam Hall) goes down toMississippi, to take on the "death row clemency case of his onetimeKlansman grandfather" Gene Hackman (as Sam Cayhall). "With just 28 daysbefore the execution, Adam sets out to retrace the events leading tothe crime for which Sam was convicted. As the impending death sentencelooms closer, Adam works quickly to uncover the family's history forany hidden clues. In a white-knuckle series of twists and turns, Adamdiscovers deceptions and dark secrets that ultimately lead him to thestartling truth," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis."White-knuckled"? Indeed not. "The Chamber" (as in gas chamber) startsoff very well; and, Mr. Hackman's portrayal of the yellow-teethedracist is worth a look. Faye Dunaway (as Lee Cayhall Bowman) has ashowy supporting role. All in all, the film's personnel portends a muchbetter story than the one which appears on screen. Building up aromance between blue-eyed Mr. O'Donnell and brown-skinned Lela Rochon(as Nora Stark) seems like such an obvious way to improve the story(whether or not it was done in the John Grisham novel), you've got towonder how on Earth they missed the obvious.***** The Chamber (10/11/96) James Foley ~ Chris O'Donnell, GeneHackman, Faye Dunaway

2012-04-20 23:54:48

Not Bad, but Not Great either

The Chamber was a bit of a disappointment considering the make-up of the cast: Chris O'Donnell and Gene Hackman among others.The film sheds light on a young lawyer who decides to defend his grandfather, a member of the KKK, in an effort to prevent his execution from being carried out.In short, the acting, the dialogues, and the plot are pretty good, though it lacks that extra something to put it over the top.In a nutshell, it's probably not a movie you would want to add to your collection, but it will provide for an evening's entertainment, and that's about it. No masterpiece here... 3 Stars

khariva 2012-04-20 09:18:12

are you kidding me?

I realize that I am late to watching this movie and that I watched andedited version on AMC but after just listening to the entire book on CDI want to know that the heck happened!? There are so many things thatwere in the movie that were not in the book and things that werecritical to the book that were left out of the movie. Just an example,Sam's daughter Lee(Faye Dunaway) never visits her father before he diesin the book, but yet in the movie they have her visiting him. Second,there is no bomb in Adam's hotel room. Lastly, and the part of themovie that really irritated me was that they never catch Wedge, evenwhen he does visit Sam in prison. There was no direct confrontationbetween Adam and Wedge. Why do screen writers and directors feel theneed to mess with a good thing? READ THE BOOK!!!

whpratt1 2012-04-18 01:20:29

Gene Hackman was Fantastic

Missed this film with Gene Hackman and greatly enjoyed his fantastictalents. Hackman, (Sam Cayhall) sure put his heart and soul in thecharacter of a death row inmate who had all kinds of hatred instilledfrom childhood and many generations of his family who wore a hoodedhead, just like a clown or Timid Soul. It is hard to believe that sucha group of hateful people could harm society, however, there is stillplenty of them around in 2005, who have never grown up to love theirneighbor as themselves. Faye Dunaway, (Lee Cayhall Bowman), played thesister to Sam Cayhall who witnessed a horrible senseless murder from atree. Lee never got over it and became addicted to drink and a horribleexistence. If you like Gene Hackman, this is a great picture to viewhis great Talents.

2012-04-17 20:25:06

The Chamber

Chris O'Donnell stars as Adam Hall, a 26 years old attorney whose father committed suicide when Adam was 10 years old because Adam's grandfather (Gene Hackman stars as Sam Cayhall) killed Joe Lincoln and Adam's father felt himself guilty since he hadn't stopped his father and handed his father a shotgun.At the burial of Adam Hall's father, Adam knew his grandfather was still alive but involved in a terrorist attack that two Jewish children died and Adam's grandfather had been sentenced to die by 28 days, in the Mississippi gas chamber and to no surprise, Sam is Adam's first client. However, Adam was told that's a case with nil winning chance. Even so, Adam was determined to save his grandfather from death penalty but time's running short.During the investigation, Sam revealed his KKK member's identity to Adam and the fact that the jury is certained Sam is guilty. And thanks to the two dead children are Jewish, Sam was named as racist. Also, Sam told Adam that no matter what Adam would do, Adam couldn't save Sam from execution. Adam has tried his best, found Rollie Wedge to be guilty and Adam tried to claim Sam is insane, but these didn't affect the death penaltiy to be executed and Sam died in calm without final words.Even it's a tedious film, I've learnt something from it - to some extent, law is not always a reliable tool of justice because evidence may give us an unfair, bad opinion of the suspects and also there's no absolute evil.

2012-04-10 22:58:15

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.

arthurclay 2012-04-10 16:14:29

Decent

I would say this one was just run of the mill as far as the overallpicture. Gene Hackman, a staple of Grisham movies, is very good andmost likely the saving grace. He plays a white supremacist bomber whois set to be executed because he supposedly blew up a one-armed Jewishlawyer and his two twin girls. Chris O'Donnell is Hackman's grandsonwho becomes his lawyer in an desperate attempt to save his life. Iwould say that O'Donnell's acting is adequate but not exceptional. FayDunaway plays Hackman's aged daughter and turns in a fine showing. Theplot is well constructed but it leaves you wondering was justice reallydone? I feel the answer is the all too usual yes and no. On one handthe guilty were punished and yet no one is satisfied with the outcomewhich I suppose is true of most real life situations. Hackman'scharacter is as bad as an apple that's been lying on the ground forthree weeks but he at times does resemble an actual human being withreal feelings and emotions. His character isn't sorry about anythinghe's done but is his own man. He assumes responsibility for his sinswhile detesting those who used him for their own ends and it shows whenhe angrily confronts his old comrade-in-arms who pays him a stupidlyill-advised visit in prison. O'Donnell's character does love Hackman inspite of Hackman's repeated abuse of him and tries everything possibleto defend him from final judgment. I can't say I loved this film it wasnot a wasted experience just not a pleasant one due to the subjectmaterial but you can't be happy everyday.

daniel 2012-04-08 12:06:44

another film with hackman.

I dont know how many movies hackman has done, but be sure to check out all of his movies with Drama in them. All are great. and this is no exception.

2012-04-08 05:09:53

devastatingly good - a real soul searcher

i had to watch the chamber as part of a class project and i thought it would be a typical story witha happy ending as usual grisham writes a top rated book which gets you at the heart and leans on the subject of the gas chamber - a truly excellent book which gets you thinking that you don't know what freedom is until it is taken away