The Chamber

I have not read much of Grisham, but I ended up reading The Chamber. Consequently, The Chamber was also the first Grisham movie that I saw after reading a Grisham novel. I have not seen this movie in a long time (and don't intend to again in the near future), but I thought that the book was decent. Anyone who has seen the movie and also read the book knows that there are two CRUCIALLY important scenes at the end that are blatantly omitted from the movie. These two scenes reveal something about Sam in the end that leaves the movie watcher completely unaware of what Grisham truly wanted as a reaction. It was inappropriate to do so in the ending, perhaps the most important part of any story. So, in order to honor Grisham's true intentions when writing this story, read the book and don't watch the movie.

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

I found myself thinking in bullet points so here it is: 1.Gene Hackman gives a solid performance, the rest of the cast are competent but the Adam Hall character could do with a better actor - less mechanical, more believable with a broader range of emotion. 2.An interesting story although it never really grabbed me and there are better ways to spend ninety minutes. 3.I'm sure the book reads well and the movie might well have been more watchable if Nicholson and Pitt hadn't withdrawn. 4.This is an old theme and if you've seen the theme before it reduces the entertainment value of the film. 5. The technology of the day should means that you shouldn't have to strain to hear the actors' mumbling, but you do - and no, it's not my hearing, age or TV to blame, I watch a lot of films. All in all, disappointing, sadly.

I have been hooked on John Grisham's novels lately, and just finished "The Chamber". Naturally, I wanted to see the movie to compare (although I believe it is almost impossible to make a deeply descriptive and relatively long novel in an accurate movie). Right from the opening scene I could tell several parts from the book would be cut out. I was utterly dismayed at the poor job in the making of this movie. Without giving away things for people who have not yet read the book, I found huge differences in characters' descriptions (especially Sgt. Parker, Rollie and the added scenes of Nora), important locations changed for the movie(i.e. where Adam stayed)and the ending (the novel is MUCH better). Whereas the novel is very descriptive of characters, the movie is extremely shallow. The novel is nicely slow-paced the majority of the time, the movie is too fast with the dialogue and editing. I would rate the movie D+.

it's the worst Grisham-adapted movie ever !! too bad, good story from a novel about a man should be punished in gas chamber. The bad script ruins everything. This movie is a very good example of how a BAD director and a bad script can ruin a supposedly good movie with good story, good actors and good acting. The director who directed two Madonna-related movies :At CLose Range and Who's That Girl (Which both suck) doesn't really understand the novel I think. I think he should've read some Grisham books and watch all Grisham-based movies The movie loses the touching and key points of the story of the original novel. This movie is such a Disappointment for John Grisham fans. But for those of you who haven't read the book, this movie might be entertaining for you at least with good Oscar caliber actor (Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway) combined with a young fresh actor Chris O'Donnell.

The acting in this movie is skin-deep, with almost all the characters, especially the lead character, reciting their lines and motions as written. The actors aren't putting enough thought behind the words they say. And it's the director's fault for allowing it. Because of this, all other factors are spoiled. It has the story to be an interesting thriller, but this is a fine example of how poor, forced acting can completely ruin a movie. I voted 5/10.

The plot and the argument are worth for discussions more with the writer Grisham than with the film director James Foley. For me Sam Cayhall was a nasty racist, who killed Jewish, black people and any others without any mercy. Living in Europe, where capital execution is prohibited in several countries, and looking the way the things are in the context of the film, I may accept that his execution did not solve the problem already created, on the other hand killing him was like to kill Lee Harvey Oswald, i.e. not to have a valuable witness who may provide information of other guilty people, KKK men and racists participating in assassination of innocent people. Gene Hackman was as usual very efficient in the role of Cayhall while Faye Dunaway and Chris O'Donnell did their best.

A movie from a John Grisham's novel is almost a guarantee to be a good movie. The Chamber is a crime/courtroom movie, where a grandson tries to save his grandfather from death row, in this case from the gas chamber. Chris O'Donnell plays the grandson and he did a good job playing his character. Gene Hackman was also very good in his role of the racist grandfather, a Klan member for his entire life. It wasn't Faye Dunaway's best role but luckily she didn't have a major part in this movie. I don't know if they tried for us to get sympathy for the accused but in my case there is no way I will ever have any sympathy for a vile human being like that. The Chamber is a good movie if you like this genre, never boring, and entertaining as you'll have to wait till the end to know what the outcome will be.

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

I'm surprised this movie has received much lower ratings than other John Grisham adaptations because I think it's one of the best. Gene Hackman is as good as ever.