John Q

Denzel Washington continues to prove why he is one of the best actors in the business with his performance in JOHN Q, a moving, emotional, and tension-charged drama about a family man whose son needs a heart transplant; however, due to financial problems, his insurance won't cover the cost of getting his son on the donor list so John Q decides to take hostages in the hospital until someone arranges for his son to be on the donor list. Despite a preachy and simplistic screenplay, the intense direction and first-rate performances make this film work. I particularly loved Denzel's work here because this was a character unlike he had ever played before...Denzel usually played well-educated, intelligent lawyers and/or businessmen (with the obvious exception of TRAINING DAY), but here Denzel is playing an average Joe...a working stiff, struggling to pay bills and keep food on the table and a roof over his family's head who is driven to extreme measures to protect the family he cherishes so dearly. Washington gets strong support from Robert Duvall, solid as always as the hostage negotiator, James Woods as a wimpy surgeon, Anne Heche as an unsympathetic hospital administrator, and especially Kimberly Elise as John's wife. An emotional drama, wrought with tension, that will rivet you to the screen.

In this movie, with a great acting of Denzel Washington as John Q. I felt the deep problems of health in the USA. My cousin lives in the United States (i don't), and she told me a few complaints about this problem; in the movie i finally understood about that. I don't understand how, the most powerful country in the world does have such bad health services to it's people?. For the benefit of the Americans, i hope that they change this system soon. Denzel puts his hearth on this movie, playing a normal guy with financial problems and a hard work; the way that Denzel shows his love to his son is remarkable and demonstrates why he is one of the actual best actors in Hollywood. If you have seen Searching for David's Hearth (2004), this is as the other side of the story.

About the Movie: Denzel Washington plays John Quincy Archibald (John Q.) a husband and father with some financial problems that works almost 20 hours a day on a factory but who can't afford his expenses. John is trying to get a second job in order to earn an extra money. In the middle of this John's son Mike (Daniel E. Smith) is found to have a disease caused by a bigger than normal heart, and the doctors told him that he will die soon if they don't make a heart transplant. Here everything is hard but it gets really harder when John goes to the insurance company and get the notice that his insurance suddenly don't cover this type of procedures. John and his wife Denise (Kimberly Elise) start to make everything possible to collect the money (a lot of money) needed just to get his son on the donor's list, with their son dying an not much money, John desperate and takes the hospital's emergency room staff and patients hostage, demanding for to his son to be put on that list and that doctors do the transplant. The story evolves emotionally deep trough all this; in a remarkable script.

About the Cast: Denzel Washington put his soul onto this role, being by far the best of all!!, Kimberly Elise does good too, but a little exaggerated sometimes, Daniel Smith as Mike is pretty poor in his acting, he didn't had to do that much but this kid (sorry) still isn't a good actor; he has years to perfect his performance. James Woods acting as Dr. Raymond Turner, as always is very good and professional, also Anne Hache as Rebbeca Payne is great and show a coldness that ripped me out. Robert Duvall acting is good but his character could have been deployed even more, for the good of the film. Ray Liotta does good; Eddie Griffin is good too as one of the characters of the emergency room (Wow, this was a great cast!)

8/10! Excellent for Denzel Washington performance!

It's no secret that America has a health care crisis where about 50 million people are uninsured in this country. The story about John Q. is about his battle to save his son's life when the hospital and health insurance companies have failed his young son by declining to put his name on the heart transplant list. Two time Oscar Winner Denzel Washington does his best to bring life into this character that any other actor would not be able to do. Kimberly Elise is also admirable in her role as his wife. Anne Heche's performance as Rebecca Payne, the hospital administrator, is quite sickening because she plays the bureaucracy part of the role but she does it well. She can act as well. James Woods plays the rich, blood-sucking doctor who John Q. takes hostage along with other innocent bystanders and hospital staff but John Q. has a heart too. Ray Liotta and Robert Duvall have supporting roles as the police chief and hostage negotiator trying to get John Q. to end the standoff. The actions are understandable since a parent would do anything to save their child's life from known death.

This movie as many have endlessly pointed out has alot of messages thrown out. But, does it really matter? We weren't there to listen to the messages. We were there to watch a movie. Performances of others that we paid to see. This movie tackled the Health Care issue (alot yes) but if you were in this situation what would you do? The perfomances were excellent. Denzel was very believable as an American low class worker. The situations could be believable if it wasn't Hollywood telling it. Who would have ever thought that kids would have come to school with guns shooting up their classmates until it happened? Who would have actually thought that another country would defy us as the leading powerhouse nation and use an act of terrorism on us like they did? No one. Point is..you never know what will happen until it does. The situation that John Q created could actually happen no matter what anyone says.

And as for the person(s) that said that John Q was a terrorist in a sympathetic light....not true. He had no intention of hurting anyone. No, no one knew that but him but he did nothing to hurt anyone in the ER. He actually got them help and let them go. So, all in all, this movie is worth seeing! I enjoyed it and would pay to see it again!

This is now the second film that I have watched which focuses on Americas health care, or lack of it, I live in the UK where all our citizens get free health care no matter what there circumstances are, What have we come to in this world if money is greater than the sum of a human life, America and it's people should be ashamed of themselves to ever let this situation happen. The film shows this situation up very well, The acting was first rate and the film in the end is a very worthy effort. Denzil Washington does a fine job of showing how we all would feel if we were thrust into a nightmare situation that meant you could loose your child simply because you don't have enough money to pay the rip of prices of the blood sucking health system.