Ignore the Critics
Added 6/7/2009
I am appalled at the New Yorker review of "The Chamber". How they could criticize Gene Hackman's performance in this film makes me wonder what their critic does call a good film. Hackman always has been, always will be one of the best, if not the best, actor of the 20th Century, Brando be damned. He is flawless in this film as he has been in anything he appears in. He makes any film better.
As for Chris O'Donnell - thank God they didn't have Tom Cruise in it. Now THERE is an actor who can ruin anything he's in. No matter what the role, he is always Tom Cruise. O'Donnell has the misfortune of looking like Cruise - thus the cheap shot from the New Yorker. His likeness to Cruise may end up being his downfall. In this film, O'Donnell gives an understated, subtle performance and it makes me want to see him in other films to see if he can shed the Cruise comparison.
As always, Dunaway is magnificent - daring to go beyond her beauty and takes her character on with a vengeance coupled with a sympathy that helps you understand and forgive the character's flaws.
I recommend this film highly - as it shows us in spades why the death penalty is a flawed response to crime - that it leaves more questions asked than answered. It is hard to watch, which only validates the importance of the film and makes its critics' comments less valid.
I wish I had not waited so long to see this film. If you haven't seen it and if you have a strong position on the death penalty, yea or nay, you will want to see this film....critics be damned.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Entertaining, Thanks To Hackman & O'Donnell
Added 5/21/2009
You can thank Chris O'Donnell and Gene Hackman for two excellent acting performances which helped make this so entertaining in spots, because it's a bit talky.
O'Donnell plays young attorney "Adam Hall" (shades of Matt Damon's character in another John Grisham movie, "The Rainmaker"). Meanwhile, it's no surprise that Hackman gives us another fascinating performance, this time as the attorney's brutally racist grandfather, "Sam Cayhall."
He's been imprisoned for a murder and O'Donnell is trying to release him from a death sentence. Hackman's performance elevates from a "fair" to a "good" movie. While O'Donnell is trying to do his job, a few revelations occur considering his Klansman grandpa. Faye Dunaway also is in here and has a memorable scene with "Sam."
Yes, the national critics were right in that this could have been better but they were off base blasting this film. It's still an entertaining movie, and that counts for plenty.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Not the best Grisham movie
Added 4/28/2008
If I were to categorize all of the Grisham movies so far, it would go like this: 1. The Firm 2. The Pelican Brief 3. The Client 4. Runaway Jury (Hackman is better in this one) 5. A Time to Kill 6. The Rainmaker 7. A Painted House 8. The Chamber.
My favorites: The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, Runaway Jury, A Painted House.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Passable.
Added 11/8/2006
This film is really only good for two things.
1. Chris O'Donnell appears without his shirt on for one scene
2. Faye Dunaway plays a crazy drunk (ultimate camp!)
1 out of 4 people found this helpful.
|
Can we presume to be better than God?
Added 2/8/2006
Apart from the emotional content due to the fact that a grandson defends his grandfather who is going to be executed for a racist crime, the films deals with the death penalty with great sympathy and ethical enlightenment. It also reveals with some silent moments here and there that the decision to execute the murderer is not at all taken for real moral reasons but only for political reasons. The governor finally gives the go-ahead message and refuses to pardon the murderer or even to stay the execution for some new investigation in some facts that appeared at the very last minute, and this under pressure from a crowd and he even announces his decision in front of this crowd and TV cameras. This is what is particular unbeareable about the death penalty : the final decision is always taken by some elected politician who turns it into his own political campaign Just for that reason it is unethical. The film also reveals how the grandfather is transformed in just 28 days by the energy and dedication of his grandson. He finally realizes, as he says so well, that he was not completely black and evil and that there must have been something good in him that he transmitted to his son who transmitted it in his turn to his grandson. There was a new hope in that man. But that was too late and that could not be taken into account by the governor.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Université Paris Dauphine, Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne
4 out of 6 people found this helpful.
|
Ignore the Critics
Added 6/7/2009
I am appalled at the New Yorker review of "The Chamber". How they could criticize Gene Hackman's performance in this film makes me wonder what their critic does call a good film. Hackman always has been, always will be one of the best, if not the best, actor of the 20th Century, Brando be damned. He is flawless in this film as he has been in anything he appears in. He makes any film better.
As for Chris O'Donnell - thank God they didn't have Tom Cruise in it. Now THERE is an actor who can ruin anything he's in. No matter what the role, he is always Tom Cruise. O'Donnell has the misfortune of looking like Cruise - thus the cheap shot from the New Yorker. His likeness to Cruise may end up being his downfall. In this film, O'Donnell gives an understated, subtle performance and it makes me want to see him in other films to see if he can shed the Cruise comparison.
As always, Dunaway is magnificent - daring to go beyond her beauty and takes her character on with a vengeance coupled with a sympathy that helps you understand and forgive the character's flaws.
I recommend this film highly - as it shows us in spades why the death penalty is a flawed response to crime - that it leaves more questions asked than answered. It is hard to watch, which only validates the importance of the film and makes its critics' comments less valid.
I wish I had not waited so long to see this film. If you haven't seen it and if you have a strong position on the death penalty, yea or nay, you will want to see this film....critics be damned.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Entertaining, Thanks To Hackman & O'Donnell
Added 5/21/2009
You can thank Chris O'Donnell and Gene Hackman for two excellent acting performances which helped make this so entertaining in spots, because it's a bit talky.
O'Donnell plays young attorney "Adam Hall" (shades of Matt Damon's character in another John Grisham movie, "The Rainmaker"). Meanwhile, it's no surprise that Hackman gives us another fascinating performance, this time as the attorney's brutally racist grandfather, "Sam Cayhall."
He's been imprisoned for a murder and O'Donnell is trying to release him from a death sentence. Hackman's performance elevates from a "fair" to a "good" movie. While O'Donnell is trying to do his job, a few revelations occur considering his Klansman grandpa. Faye Dunaway also is in here and has a memorable scene with "Sam."
Yes, the national critics were right in that this could have been better but they were off base blasting this film. It's still an entertaining movie, and that counts for plenty.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Not the best Grisham movie
Added 4/28/2008
If I were to categorize all of the Grisham movies so far, it would go like this: 1. The Firm 2. The Pelican Brief 3. The Client 4. Runaway Jury (Hackman is better in this one) 5. A Time to Kill 6. The Rainmaker 7. A Painted House 8. The Chamber.
My favorites: The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, Runaway Jury, A Painted House.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
