I would say this one was just run of the mill as far as the overall picture. Gene Hackman, a staple of Grisham movies, is very good and most likely the saving grace. He plays a white supremacist bomber who is set to be executed because he supposedly blew up a one-armed Jewish lawyer and his two twin girls. Chris O'Donnell is Hackman's grandson who becomes his lawyer in an desperate attempt to save his life. I would say that O'Donnell's acting is adequate but not exceptional. Fay Dunaway plays Hackman's aged daughter and turns in a fine showing. The plot is well constructed but it leaves you wondering was justice really done? I feel the answer is the all too usual yes and no. On one hand the guilty were punished and yet no one is satisfied with the outcome which I suppose is true of most real life situations. Hackman's character is as bad as an apple that's been lying on the ground for three weeks but he at times does resemble an actual human being with real feelings and emotions. His character isn't sorry about anything he's done but is his own man. He assumes responsibility for his sins while detesting those who used him for their own ends and it shows when he angrily confronts his old comrade-in-arms who pays him a stupidly ill-advised visit in prison. O'Donnell's character does love Hackman in spite of Hackman's repeated abuse of him and tries everything possible to defend him from final judgment. I can't say I loved this film it was not a wasted experience just not a pleasant one due to the subject material but you can't be happy everyday.
Review of The Chamber
