The Chamber (1996)
The Chamber really isn’t my cup of tea, and the only reason I watched it was to honor Chris O’Donnell during his time as Star of the Week. If this is your cup of tea, that’s fine, but hopefully you’ll understand why I didn’t like it.
Chris plays a young lawyer who’s defending Gene Hackman on death row. Gene is a passionate member of the KKK, and twenty years earlier, he built a bomb that killed two children. The great twist, that’s revealed in the first five minutes of the movie, is that Chris is Gene’s grandson. As you might expect, Gene is first portrayed to be deplorable, and Chris starts off hating him; then, as they get to know each other, Gene is supposed to be humanized and Chris, and the audience, is supposed to have some feeling for him. The message of “no one is 100% evil” doesn’t resonate with me, because it’s impossible to learn someone’s entire life story in a two-hour movie. These movies, in general, feel forced and manipulative. But isn’t that the point to these movies, to manipulate the audience’s emotions from contempt to sympathy?
Faye Dunaway costars as Gene’s daughter, and during the first half of her scenes, she’s dolled up to look uncharacteristically pretty. Then, the less makeup she wears, the more emotional she’s supposed to seem, which again, feels like a manipulation tactic. Lela Rochin, a rival lawyer, is given no character development. She’s a saint-like character who puts the law above any feelings she might have, and, for no reason, goes out of her way to help Chris prepare his case, simply to show the audience that she’s black and can forgive a Klan member for the sake of a fair trial. Once again, that part of the story didn’t move me.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. There’s a closeup on Chris sleeping and the camera spins in a circle. Also in the beginning, when Chris watches television footage, the camerawork is handheld, and that will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to racial language and upsetting violence, I wouldn’t let my kids watch it.
More Chris O'Donnell movies here!
Chris plays a young lawyer who’s defending Gene Hackman on death row. Gene is a passionate member of the KKK, and twenty years earlier, he built a bomb that killed two children. The great twist, that’s revealed in the first five minutes of the movie, is that Chris is Gene’s grandson. As you might expect, Gene is first portrayed to be deplorable, and Chris starts off hating him; then, as they get to know each other, Gene is supposed to be humanized and Chris, and the audience, is supposed to have some feeling for him. The message of “no one is 100% evil” doesn’t resonate with me, because it’s impossible to learn someone’s entire life story in a two-hour movie. These movies, in general, feel forced and manipulative. But isn’t that the point to these movies, to manipulate the audience’s emotions from contempt to sympathy?
Faye Dunaway costars as Gene’s daughter, and during the first half of her scenes, she’s dolled up to look uncharacteristically pretty. Then, the less makeup she wears, the more emotional she’s supposed to seem, which again, feels like a manipulation tactic. Lela Rochin, a rival lawyer, is given no character development. She’s a saint-like character who puts the law above any feelings she might have, and, for no reason, goes out of her way to help Chris prepare his case, simply to show the audience that she’s black and can forgive a Klan member for the sake of a fair trial. Once again, that part of the story didn’t move me.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. There’s a closeup on Chris sleeping and the camera spins in a circle. Also in the beginning, when Chris watches television footage, the camerawork is handheld, and that will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to racial language and upsetting violence, I wouldn’t let my kids watch it.
More Chris O'Donnell movies here!