Movie Review: John Q (2002)
Synopsis: With his hours at the factory cut back and his wife, Denise, starting a new job, money is tight for John Archibald and his family. When his son, Michael, collapses at a youth baseball game, doctors determine he needs a new heart. However, John learns his insurance company won't cover the $250,000 cost and the hospital won't even put Michael on the list unless he pays $75,000 up front. Despite his best efforts to raise the money, hospital administrator Rebecca Payne decides to send Michael home to die. Desperate to prevent that from happening and determined to force Payne to put Michael on the transplant list, John brings a gun to the hospital and takes both transplant surgeon Dr. Raymond Turner and the occupants of the emergency room hostage.
Who's in it? The movie stars Denzel Washington, James Woods, Anne Heche, Robert Duvall, Eddie Griffin and Ray Liotta.
Review: We didn't have any plans to go out last night and instead spent our Friday at home watching random movies. My wife found John Q on one of our movie channels and, since it had been a long time since we last saw it, we gave it a try again. This remains a powerful and entertaining drama (albeit a bit of a depressing one as well).
I think the thing that really stood out for me was, despite this film being made more than two decades ago, it feels just as relevant as it did when it first was released. As sad as it is, healthcare is still expensive, health insurance companies can still reject coverage for certain procedures and people still die as a result of it.
In fact, among other things, this is a movie that really takes the American healthcare system to task, both with accusations of purposeful malpractice to avoid expensive diagnoses and with John (Denzel) being treated more as an anti-hero throughout. I don't think I've ever seen a group of hostages be so easily on the side of the guy holding the gun.
At the same time, this was a seriously intense movie. While John's actions were arguably justified, it was also clear from the moment he walked into that emergency room there was no way he was getting out of it unscathed. To paraphrase Lt. Frank Grimes (Duvall) waiting outside the hospital with an army of armed police officers, John was either going to end the movie in prison or a morgue.
John's willingness to end things by taking his own life as long as Dr. Turner (Woods) gave his heart to his son added a whole new element to the movie as well. It seemed extreme but, as things grew more desperate for Michael (Daniel E. Smith) and it was unclear if Payne (Heche) would keep her promise to add Michael to the transplant list and cover the cost of the surgery, it did seem like a real possibility, even as a bittersweet ending with John taking his life not knowing the transplant was approved.
At minimum, it kept the movie from being as predictable as it could have been and, even though it wasn't the first time I watched the movie, I was just as surprised by the ending as I was when I last saw it 20+ years ago.
Final Opinion: As I said, this is a powerful drama with a very clear message. It's just too bad, after more than two decades, it's still a message that is mostly going unheard.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other Denzel Washington movies:
Movie Review: The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
Movie Review: The Equalizer (2014)
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