The Chamber

1996
12
1h 53m

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

16K

YOUR RATING

Gene Hackman and Chris O'Donnell in The Chamber (1996)

Play trailer0:31

1 Video

75 Photos

Legal Thriller Crime Drama Thriller

A young man fresh out of law school tries to win a reprieve for his racist grandfather who is on death row.A young man fresh out of law school tries to win a reprieve for his racist grandfather who is on death row.A young man fresh out of law school tries to win a reprieve for his racist grandfather who is on death row.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

16K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 nominations

Videos1

Trailer 0:31

The Chamber

Photos75

+ 67

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The story of the freakish execution that Sam tells Adam, about a condemned prisoner beating his head against a metal pole inside the gas chamber, is a true story. It happened to Mississippian Jimmy Lee Gray in 1983.

Goofs
Sam Cahall states that the new law allowing him to opt for lethal injection applied only to inmates convicted after 1984. Actually it was just the opposite: Those convicted after 1984 could only have lethal injection. Before 1984 convicts could choose between lethal injection and the gas chamber.

Quotes
E. Garner Goodman: How much do you know about the death penalty?
Adam Hall: I've read everything there is.
E. Garner Goodman: Then you know nothing.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: That Thing You Do!/Bound/Michael Collins/Infinity/If These Walls Could Talk (1996)

Soundtracks
Temenos (Here Come The Shakes)
Written by Shelby Tate
Performed by Remy Zero
Courtesy of DGC Records
By Arrangement with MCA Special Markets & Products

User reviews64

Review

Featured review

7/10

Breaking the Cycle

On the surface "The Chamber" is about a young lawyer named Adam Hall (Chris O'Donnell) who is trying to save his grandfather (Gene Hackman) from the death penalty. But really the movie is about breaking the cycle of racism, hatred, and bigotry that got his grandfather put on death row to begin with.

Although not one of Grisham's best, he still deserves credit for daringly going into a dark and despised part of American history. This movie may have stirred many people the wrong way and touched a nerve with others. I saw an excellent depiction of a torn young man desiring to help his grandfather in spite of his and everyone else's despise of that same man.

The movie was compelling. Just one tale about the troubled history of Mississippi. As the character Nora Stark (Lela Rochon) said..."Mississippi has bodies buried everywhere."