During a baseball game, John Quincy Archibald's son Michael collapses and is diagnosed as having a major heart defect that requires a transplant ASAP. Sadly John and his wife, Denise, don't have enough insurance to cover the cost of such an operation, no matter what they do they just can't come up with enough cash to save Michael's life. Desperate and angry at the money laden red tape, John takes the ER room hostage and demands that the transplant be done.
Coming as i do from Great Britain, i have no bond of feeling to the thought of having to pay for medical insurance, so with that in mind i viewed John Q from the off with a certain degree of interest. Just scanning through some of the user comments here it's apparent that this is a most divisive picture amongst the American users, no great deal of middle ground, it's either preachy nonsense trying to make a moral stance, or it's a highly involving picture tenderly bringing to light a serious issue.
My thoughts are quite simply that as a drama it works considerably well, the issue at hand makes for a compelling picture, and even allowing for an overkilling of sentimental strands, it's intelligent and never less than interesting. However the constant stream of formulaic characters hinders the film and stops it totally achieving its aims, to anyone who hasn't seen this picture i would wager that if i asked you to pick ten characters for a hostage piece, you would get nine of them right. It's a real shame because John Q is a fine film in substance, and is backed up by a competent cast list, even if not all of them are quite utilised to the maximum.
Taking the lead as John Q is Denzel Washington, few actors of his generation can give so much emotion into a character, it's a great turn from him and one that deserves far more credit that it gets. Robert Duvall and James Woods have critical roles but not given enough meat to really get their respective teeth into, Ray Liotta is safe and enjoyable in an annoying role, whilst Kimberly Elise {as mother Denise} and Anne Heche {the cold hearted hospital administrator} are merely making up the numbers. A bit more bravery and a bit less sentiment may well have lifted John Q into one of this decades best dramas category, as it is it's a missed opportunity that still delivers enough punch for this particular viewer to give it the thumbs up. 7/10
Coming as i do from Great Britain, i have no bond of feeling to the thought of having to pay for medical insurance, so with that in mind i viewed John Q from the off with a certain degree of interest. Just scanning through some of the user comments here it's apparent that this is a most divisive picture amongst the American users, no great deal of middle ground, it's either preachy nonsense trying to make a moral stance, or it's a highly involving picture tenderly bringing to light a serious issue.
My thoughts are quite simply that as a drama it works considerably well, the issue at hand makes for a compelling picture, and even allowing for an overkilling of sentimental strands, it's intelligent and never less than interesting. However the constant stream of formulaic characters hinders the film and stops it totally achieving its aims, to anyone who hasn't seen this picture i would wager that if i asked you to pick ten characters for a hostage piece, you would get nine of them right. It's a real shame because John Q is a fine film in substance, and is backed up by a competent cast list, even if not all of them are quite utilised to the maximum.
Taking the lead as John Q is Denzel Washington, few actors of his generation can give so much emotion into a character, it's a great turn from him and one that deserves far more credit that it gets. Robert Duvall and James Woods have critical roles but not given enough meat to really get their respective teeth into, Ray Liotta is safe and enjoyable in an annoying role, whilst Kimberly Elise {as mother Denise} and Anne Heche {the cold hearted hospital administrator} are merely making up the numbers. A bit more bravery and a bit less sentiment may well have lifted John Q into one of this decades best dramas category, as it is it's a missed opportunity that still delivers enough punch for this particular viewer to give it the thumbs up. 7/10