John Q

***

UK Release Date: May 31st 2002

A down-on-his luck father, whose insurance won't cover his son's heart transplant, holds an emergency room hostage until the doctors agree to perform the operation.

i rector: Nick Cassavetes (The Other Woman, My Sister's Keeper, The Notebook)

Starring: Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, James Woods, Anna Heche, Ray Liotta

Surprising and shock are words that come to mind after hearing that John Q, Denzel Washington's first film since Training Day, got slated by the critics. Whether they were swayed by the political upheaval or just didn't take to it, John Q still holds moments of grandeur.

Denzel Washington is as impressive as ever. He's the one true asset to this film. He goes to great lengths to save his son's life. Viewers, whether they have children or not, and especially lacking health insurance, will support him until the very end. 'Give a father no options and you give him no choice.'

Political debates and facts plague the script, as if John Q is a direct message to the government. Stereotypical supporting characters are also aplenty, with the good cop (Duvall), bad cop (Liotta) and the immoral chief of medicine (Woods) suffering for it. Try as they might, there's no crawling out of the pit the writers have put them in. 

It has its benefits too; John Q could change medical practice in America (similar to Obama's Obamacare). Director Nick Cassavetes spoke to New York Times after John Q's release and said 'This movie is splitting people along the lines of money. The people this doesn't affect find it to be an overly fantastic melodrama, but play this movie in a middle class or poor area and people get angry and are yelling at the screen. They get it.' John Q gives you heaps of questions to dissect, regardless of your background. Those viewing from outside the US can still feel the emotional attachment thanks to the sublime Washington.

At the heart of it, John Q is an entertaining, suspenseful watch addressing issues that will be talked about for years.