John Q (2002)

the leading man is my tpye

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Blistering performances.

This business about insurance companies ripping off people is so appropriate to our country and to the situation the GOP wants to take us back to. Health care for those that can pay for it and the heck with the rest. Here we are 16 years later and the same crap is going on. The ACA was a good start but all the GOP wants to repeal it. We need healthcare improved and made universal. Re-release it and make the GOP watches it.

Released in 2002 and directed by Nick Cassavetes, "John Q" stars Denzel Washington in the title role as a factory worker in the Chicago area whose son desperately needs a heart transplant, but the biyatch at the hospital maintains that he doesn't have enough coverage (Anne Heche). John feels he has no choice but to take radical measures to save his son, even if it costs his life. James Woods plays the main doctor while Robert Duvall & Ray Liotta appear as the top officers. Kimberly Elise is on hand as John's wife while David Thornton & Laura Harring play the couple's best friends.The movie effectively shows how effed up the American health care system is and appears to promote universal health care. While the system obviously needs fixed, Nobamacare wasn't the way to do it; and, in many ways, made things worse. Nobamacare didn't even accomplish it's supposed goal, which was to grant health care to ALL Americans, at least that's what the 'powers that be' maintained; as of this writing there are still 27 million citizens who are uninsured, and probably far more than that. In reality Nobamacare was basically a Demoncrap Federal power grab.But all that is irrelevant to whether or not the movie is effective, which it is. It's not believable, but it's certainly entertaining. What do I mean by not being believable? The tone is generally realistic, but the characters and dramatics are so amped up the movie is sometimes almost a parody (almost). A good example is how over-the-top uncaring Heche's character is compared to the low-key evil of Nurse Ratched in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975). The histrionics amongst the hostages is another prime example.Speaking of the hostages, at around the 40-minute mark the movie settles into a confined-location flick. These kinds of stories involve several characters, usually strangers, who are stuck in a particular environment wherein they are forced to get to know each other and interact in order to survive (2007's "The Mist" is a good example). The producers assembled a notable cast for this stock plot (Eddie Griffin, Shawn Hatosy, Heather Wahlquist, Troy Winbush, Ethan Suplee and a few others, including Woods) with Griffin, Hatosy, Winbush and Wahlquist standing out. The latter, incidentally, has a great "Whoa Mama!" scene.The opening scenes seem somewhat contrived, but the movie quickly finds its footing and compellingly embroils you in the events until the close, despite the aforementioned overblown moments. Of course, Washington is excellent as the likable protagonist turned antihero. You can't help but sympathize with him even though what he does is very foolish. Bold, yes, but foolish.The movie run 116 minutes and was shot in Ontario (Solina, Cambridge, Ajax, Hamilton, Oshawa & Toronto) and Montreal with the mountain scenes shot in Alberta (Canmore & Cochrane) and establishing shots in Chicago. WRITER: James Kearns.GRADE: B+

When crafting a film like "John Q.", it would have been simple for director Nick Cassavetes to go the "simple route" and turn it into a simple hostage flick. Luckily for viewers, though, Cassavetes instead creates an incredibly nuanced movie that is casted about as perfectly as any film ever made.For a basic plot summary, "John Q." tells the story of John Archibald (Denzel Washington) and wife Denise (Kimberly Elise), who see their son Mikey (Daniel E. Smith) collapse at a Little League and require a new heart to live for much longer. The problem? The Archibalds do not have good enough insurance to cover the procedure, leading John to take matters into his own hands.This is one of my favorite movies of all-time because of its many nuances. The themes are very thought-provoking and very "grey"...no "black and white" heroes and villains here. As in real life, there are always other agendas that must be pieced together and reckoned with in order to understand any situation. The same goes for this movie. Is John the hero or the villain? It all depends on how you look at it. I love (and respect) films that are able to both entertain me and make me think about how the events on the screen relate to my own life.It only helps that this is perhaps the most perfectly-casted film in cinema history! Denzel is, of course, custom-made for his role, while auxiliary players like James Woods, Anne Heche, Ray Liotta, & Robert Duvall couldn't be better in the roles they play.Overall, "John Q." is a film that may just speak to you on a number of different levels (societal, personal, etc.). It also contains enough drama, action, and humor to be a well-rounded experience. If you are a fan of Denzel's work at all, or even just movies that will make you think, then this one should not be missed.

Denzel Washington plays John Quincy Archibald, father of Mike (Daniel E. Smith) falls hard all of a sudden at a baseball game, which ultimately set the story in motion. The diagnosis, needing a heart transplant, everything only get harder when John goes to the insurance company and finds that his insurance does not cover this type of procedure.The movie tells about an American society that has been blinded by capitalism. Everything is in the dire hands of 'Money'. The hospital, unwilling to do what they would normally do to save someone's life, turns a head… only to put his son onto the transplant list if they had the money. James Woods who stars as Dr. Raymond Turner, display rigidness of professionalism, while Anne Heche who stars as Rebecca Payne, display utter coldness that nearly got me wanting to pick up a chair and throw it at her.Every day even before what had just happened, John and his wife Denise (Kimberly Elise) tries their best to make ends meet, and then now trying and doing everything possible to collect money needed just to get his son on the list. A father, loving and caring, must come up with 250,000 dollars to pay for his son's heart transplant. Their friends, and countless others, do their best to help the couple raise money. Soon, almost everything they have is on the market and sold.It was not enough. Out of options, and out of time, a father pushed to the limits to save his son. In all desperation and having hardly enough to get anything accomplished, John holds the entire hospital's emergency room hostage. He sets the one demand for his son to be put on that list so that the doctors can proceed with the transplant. The ending only leaves you chills to the bone as to what a father is left to do in order to be heard.Denzel Washington is one of the greatest actors of our time and he proves it here playing a father in utter distraught. I recommend this movie!