The Chamber (1996)
A young lawyer fights to save his racist grandfather on death row; for fans of legal dramas and intense family stories.
Genres: Crime, Drama
Cast
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The Chamber(1996)
Overview
Idealistic young attorney Adam Hall takes on the death row clemency case of his racist grandfather, Sam Cayhall, a former Ku Klux Klan member he has never met.
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Cast
Full Cast & Crew
Chris O'Donnell
Adam Hall
Gene Hackman
Sam Cayhall
Faye Dunaway
Lee Cayhall Bowen
Robert Prosky
E. Garner Goodman
Lela Rochon
Nora Stark
Bo Jackson
Sgt. Clyde Packer
Millie Perkins
Ruth Kramer
David Marshall Grant
Gov. David McAllister
Raymond J. Barry
Rollie Wedge
Nicholas Pryor
Judge Flynn F. Slattery
Richard Bradford
Wyn Lettner
Harve Presnell
Attorney General Roxburgh
Josef Sommer
Phelps Bowen
Jane Kaczmarek
Dr. Anne Biddows
Seth Isler
Marvin B. Kramer
Greg Wayne Elam
Joe Lincoln
Greg Goossen
J.B. Gullitt
Featured Comments/Tips
Surprisingly good movie about the Ku-Klux-Klan member Sam Cayhall who is found guilty for bombing a Jewish lawyer'#39;s office and killing two innocent children. 28 days before his execution his grandson (the very young lawyer Adam Hall) tries to safe him and discovers the very brutal and disturbing past of both Sam Cayhall and the Ku-Klux-Klan.
It is Racist Dead Man Walking.
I don'#39;t know the book, in fact I don'#39;t know any of Grishams books. But I still think this movie is underated at 60 %. Granted, it isn'#39;t a masterpiece of filmmaking or delivers award winning acting performances. The story is solid, though. My only wish would have been that it had been more serious. It is in essence a family drama, the crime is more in the background. As is the whole Klan thing. It is there but it never really surfaces. Everything evolves more arround the relationship of Adam towards Sam and a bit of Lee'#39;s as well. The political side and the possible involvement of others is just hinted everywhere but not really discovered. The last minutes were really strong though, but in the end you fail to see Sam being a victim in all of this. He made his bed and lay in it. As a family drama it is OK, essentialy a strong '#34;7'#34; but if you'#39;re looking for a crime/polit thriller than this is not your movie.
Featured User Reviews
If you spend half as much time trying to be a lawyer instead of trying to be Dick Tracy, I might not be dead in five days. 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
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