Sam Cayhall (Gene Hackman) is set to be executed for a bombing thirty years ago in Mississippi that killed two Jewish boys. His grandson Adam (Chris O'Donnell) has been avoiding the hateful legacy of his Klan grandfather. The young lawyer takes on the case. His investigation reveals that others were involved and he struggles to stop the execution.Gene Hackman is a great racist but his character is irredeemable. Chris O'Donnell has his boyish looks but I don't sense the substance. Faye Dunaway is simply horrible in this one. The story is flat. The legal thriller is ultimately meaningless. Other than Hackman, this movie doesn't have much.

Spoilers.This is a wholly unremarkable, but also inoffensive, adaptation of a John Grisham novel that serves only to make me believe I haven't really missed a lot by never reading any of the good Mr. Grisham's work. The plot follows a familiar template for the legal thriller: the dynamic young lawyer taking on a lost cause (for whatever reason), the unsympathetic villain languishing on death row, the increasingly desperate legal measures taken by the lawyer to win the day, the behind-the-scenes political intrigues that assure as many obstacles as possible are put in the lawyer's way. Usually, the prisoner receives a last minute reprieve, but not in this case; here we join racist redneck Gene Hackman in his last few moments as he is strapped into the eponymous chamber and struggles to hold his breath while the poisonous gas swirls invisibly around him. Foam issues from his mouth as the gas takes effect, and you wonder why you had to see that. The only reason I can think of is because the film was made one year after Dead Man Walking.Gene Hackman is as good as you'd expect him to be; he must be one – if not the – greatest actors of his generation, and he makes young Chris O'Donnell look wholly insipid. To be fair to O'Donnell, there isn't that much in his character to grab hold of – the only characteristic he has is the desire to see his grandpappy saved from the chamber. And when the poor lad isn't being acted off the screen by Hackman he has to contend with Faye Dunaway giving one of the better performances of her later career as Hackman's alcoholic daughter, who is haunted by the mistaken belief that she may have prevented a murder she witnessed as a child had she not chosen to remain silent at the fateful moment.The Chamber isn't a classic by any measure, but it's probably better than its rating on this site might lead you to believe, although judging by some of the comments you might enjoy it more if you haven't read the book on which it is based.

A few years ago, I read the novel "The Chamber" by John Grisham and I thought it was a spectacular reading experience. Then, in 1996, they released it in the theatres and I was hoping that the outcome would turn out on a positive note, just like the novel. Also I was hoping that very talented performers like Chris O'Donnell, Gene Hackman and Faye 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 very little happening here, the acting is very wooden and the actors were woefully miscast. On a positive note, some stuff from the novel were brought into the movie. So for those who never read the novel or seen the movie, I won't give too much away. But those who expected an equally riveting novel to movie adaptation, you will be disappointed. One thing that upset me most here is the different characteristics between Adam Hall in the novel and Adam Hall (Chris O'Donnell) in the movie. In the novel, Hall is a typical attorney who's a bit green and does not know what to expect. In the movie, he's made like a big-shot who can get by in this case like a piece of cake. Okay, I understand we can't cram everything from the novel, because then it would take too long, and we're not all patient for a three hour movie; so I respect that. I think the movie had it's mind on cutting to the chase rather than unravelling the events that led to the scenes. In the end it's just better that you all should just read the book and forget about the film.

I know that probably goes for every book made into a movie ever made but for this one it really shows. The movie is good at times at portraying just why the book was so great and at other times cuts out some of the most important part of the film.The film gets the first 1/6th of the book done in about 10 minutes, fine, I can accept that, need to get to the center so people are not bored, it was only when after 2/6 of the book was after 30 minutes I started to get annoyed and I state this below...The middle just sort of cut to the chase and this bothers me, if anything, this is one of the worst things you can do to a book, they cut out a lot of the feel of the book in these first 30 minutes of the movie, and fans of the book should feel angered by this (Like Me).On the good side of the book, the film does pick up after the initial part, and by the end you have sympathy for all the characters (Much like the book). The film is definitely a tribute to the book by the end.Overall, fans of the book will like this movie after the initial stage, and while they do add a lot of stupid chunks of the movie (Adam Meets Rollie Wedge) the film does do well to the book.I rate this movie 62%.JOHN GRISAM RULES!!!