The Chamber (film)

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The Chamber
The Chamber movie poster
Directed by	James Foley
Produced by	John Davis Brian Grazer Ron Howard
Written by	John Grisham (novel) William Goldman (screenplay) Chris Reese (screenplay)
Starring	Chris O'Donnell Gene Hackman
Music by	Carter Burwell
Cinematography	Ian Baker
Editing by	Mark Warner
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	October 11 1996
Running time	113 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Time is running out.

The Chamber is 1996 drama/thriller film based on the John Grisham novel of the same name. The film is directed by James Foley and stars Gene Hackman and Chris O'Donnell.

1 Synopsis
2 Cast
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Having survived the hatred and bigotry that was his Klansman grandfather's (Hackman) only legacy, young attorney Adam Hall (O'Donnell) seeks at the last minute to appeal the old man's death sentence for the murder of two small Jewish boys 30 years before. Only four weeks (exactly 28 days) before Sam Cayhall is to be executed, Adam meets his grandfather for the first time in the Mississippi state prison which has held him since the crime in 1980 (16 years ago). The meeting is predictably tense when the educated, young Mr. "Hall" confronts his venom-spewing elder, Mr. "Cayhall," about the murders. The next day, headlines run proclaiming Adam the grandson who has come to the state to save his grandfather, the infamous Ku Klux Klan bomber. While the old man's life lies in the balance, Adam's motivation in fighting this battle becomes clear as the story unfolds. Not only does he fight for his grandfather, but perhaps for himself as well. He has come to heal the wounds of his own father's suicide, to mitigate the secret shame he has always felt for the genetic fluke which made this man his grandfather, and to bring closure -- one way or another -- to the suffering the old man seems to have brought to everyone he has ever known. But, would mercy soften his grandfather's heart?

[edit] Cast

Chris O'Donnell - Adam Hall
Gene Hackman - Sam Cayhall
Faye Dunaway - Lee Cayhall Bowen
Robert Prosky - E. Garner Goodman
Raymond J. Barry - Rollie Wedge/Donnie Cayhall
Bo Jackson - Sgt. Clyde Packer
Lela Rochon - Nora Stark
David Marshall Grant - Gov. David McAllister
Nicholas Pryor - Judge Flynn F. Slattery
Harve Presnell - Atty. Gen. Roxburgh

[edit] Trivia

The execution scene was filmed in the actual gas chamber at Parchman Penitentiary.
Ron Howard was originally set to direct the film, but left the project to direct Ransom (1996). He stayed on as Executive Producer on the film.
Brad Pitt was committed to playing Adam Hall, but left the project when Ron Howard left to direct Ransom (1996).
William Goldman, who wrote the early drafts, was reportedly unsatisfied with the re-writes and never saw the finished movie
During the execution scene at the end of the film, one of the members of the crowd cheering and holding scenes at the prison holds up a cardboard sign reading, "suck gas, evildoer". This is the trademark battle cry of Darkwing Duck, from the Disney TV series about a duck superhero who uses a gas weapon against criminals.