"The Chamber" is worth seeing for one reason -- a superb performance by Gene Hackman. As a Ku Klux Klansman on death row for the murder of a civil rights lawyer and his children, he is crusty, belligerent, alternately fierce and thoughtful, a man whose eyes often contradict the hate he is spewing. Unfortunately, "The Chamber" was helmed by James Foley whose direction tends to be heavy-handed and humorless. The result is to squeeze a lot of the style and irony from the Grisham original -- and to make what was good storytelling in print seem threadbare on screen. Chris O'Donnell does a workmanlike job as Hackman's grandson, a young lawyer who is determined to save Hackman from execution for murky reasons -- and who foolishly drops in on a "good ol' boy" rally to get his head kicked in . Faye Dunaway contributes boozy hysterics as Hackman's daughter who has made the jump from "poor white trash" to southern belle. Not a great movie. But watch it for Hackman and you'll see screen acting at its best.
Review of The Chamber
