John Q. is a 2002 American crime film starring Denzel Washington and directed by Nick Cassavetes. The film tells the story of John Quincy Archibald (Denzel Washington), a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and finds out he is unable to receive a transplant because HMO insurance will not cover it, before he decides to hold up the hospital and force them to do it.
The film co-stars Kimberly Elise, Robert Duvall, Anne Heche, James Woods and Ray Liotta. The film was shot in Toronto, Hamilton, Ontario, and Canmore, Alberta, although the story takes place in Chicago. Shooting took place for 60 days from August 7 to November 3, 2000.
Video John Q.
Plot
A motorist is driving dangerously down a winding road, recklessly passing cars until she comes upon a slow moving Mack truck. As she attempts to pass, her car is clipped by a truck going in the opposite direction, then slammed full-force by the Mack, killing her.
Meanwhile, John Quincy Archibald and his wife Denise witness their young son Michael collapse at his baseball game and take Michael to the hospital. After a series of tests at the hospital, John is informed by Dr. Raymond Turner and Rebecca Payne, the hospital administrator, that his son has an enlarged heart and that he will die without a heart transplant. The procedure is very expensive: $250,000 (at a minimum), with a down payment of $75,000 (30%) required to get Michael's name on the organ recipient list. John tells them he is insured, but after looking through his policy, they tell him that because the company he works for dropped John from full-time to part-time, his health insurance has been changed, and the new policy does not cover the surgery, which leaves John and Denise to raise $75,000 on their own. The family tries to raise the money but are only able to come up with a third of the necessary payment. The hospital eventually tires of waiting and plans to release Michael, and an outraged, distraught Denise urges John to do something. Unwilling to let his son die, John walks into the hospital ER with a handgun, gathers eleven hostages, and sets demands: his son's name on the recipient list as soon as possible or the hostages die. The hostage negotiator, Lt. Frank Grimes, stands down to let John cool off.
Meanwhile, John and the hostages (which consist of both patients and hospital staff) communicate and learn more about each other. They begin to understand John's situation and support him a little, as he ensures each patient receives the treatment they came to the emergency room for. One of them, Miriam, is pregnant and in labor, and her husband Steve is hoping that their first child is healthy. Another hostage, Lester, has a hand injury of an unknown cause, which is quickly treated. Rosa, a Hispanic mother, has brought in her baby to receive treatment for an ear infection. A young woman, Julie, has a broken arm, and she and her boyfriend Mitch claim that a car crash caused it; due to inconsistencies in their story and their respective injuries, John and Lester quickly conclude the two are lying, and that Mitch is abusive and beat up Julie.
After learning that Miriam needs to go to the maternity ward to give birth, John agrees to release some hostages to have his son's name added to the list an hour afterward. During this time, Mitch decides to take matters into his own hands and end the hostage situation himself; he deliberately starts a conflict with Steve, and when John intervenes, Mitch attacks him, and the two wrestle each other to the ground. Mitch calls for Julie to assist him, but she, fed up with his abuse and his overall selfish behavior, instead assists John in subduing Mitch, and then stuns and amuses everyone by assaulting and dumping him on the spot. After securing Mitch to prevent him from causing further trouble, John releases Steve, Miriam, Rosa, and her baby.
The Chicago Chief of Police, Gus Monroe, decides to give in to political pressure and end the situation himself, overriding Grimes' command, and giving a SWAT unit permission to insert a sniper into the building via an air shaft, while luring John into position using a phone conversation with his wife and son. John is shot but ends up receiving only a minor wound, which is treated right away. After taking the shot, the sniper's leg falls through the ceiling tiles. Outraged, John pulls him out of the air shaft and beats him up. Using the bound SWAT policeman as a human shield, he steps outside to the sight of dozens of policemen pointing weapons at him and a large, supportive crowd. John demands that his son be brought to the emergency room. The police agree to his demand in exchange for the SWAT sniper.
Once his son arrives, John reveals to the hostages his intention to commit suicide so his heart can be used to save his son. He persuades Dr. Turner to perform the operation, and two of his hostages bear witness to a will stating his last request. John says his last goodbyes to Michael and enters the operating room. He loads a single bullet into the gun; his gun was never loaded and he never intended to kill any of the hostages. John pulls the trigger, but the safety is on. As he prepares to end his life a second time, his wife learns about an organ donor (the woman killed in the beginning of the film) who has been flown to the hospital for organ recovery. She runs to the emergency room and stops John from shooting himself, and John allows the hostages to go free. Michael is given the life-saving operation and, after watching the procedure with Denise, John is taken into police custody by Grimes.
Afterwards, the entire ordeal becomes subject to a national debate about the quality and accessibility of insurance and healthcare. At John's trial, all of the witnesses speak on his behalf. Three months later, he is ultimately acquitted of charges of attempted murder and armed criminal action, but is found guilty of kidnapping and false imprisonment of the hostages. It is never revealed what his sentence for the crime will be, but his lawyer is overheard saying that no judge will give him "more than three to five (years)" and that she will try to get it reduced to two.
The last scene shows John being driven off to jail to await sentencing, with Michael thanking his father for all he did to save his life.
Maps John Q.
Cast
Production
In Blu-ray DVD commentary on the Deleted Scenes with Cassavetes and writer James Kearns, the main theme of the movie was said to be "about a miracle and John's faith in God creating the miracle". They also mentioned how SWAT team advisors for the film related a similar true incident in Toronto where a man (Henry Masuka) took an ER hostage after it would not provide immediate service to his infant son on New Year's Eve 1999. When he exited the ER he was shot and killed and found to be carrying an unloaded pellet gun. A character building scene at the beginning of the film was shot in Cambridge, ON at a manufacturing facility owned by Babcock & Wilcox. Washington is shown using a grinder as he stands over a tubesheet destined for a steam generator for a nuclear power generating facility.
Political references
During shots of the news coverage surrounding the hostage situation in the hospital, a cameo by then Senator Hillary Clinton occurs. Clinton has argued for healthcare reform, especially in to cases such as the one depicted in the film.
Reception
Box office
The film opened in first place at the box office, taking $23,275,194 during its first weekend. It ended up with a total domestic gross of $71,026,631 and $102,244,770 worldwide.
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 23% based on the 131 reviews, with the site's consensus reading, "Washington's performance rises above the material, but John Q pounds the audience over the head with its message." Metacritic gives it a score of 30 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
See also
- Denzel Washington on screen and stage
- Dog Day Afternoon, an earlier film with a similar hostage premise
- Money Monster, a later film with a similar hostage premise
- Health disparities
- Sugreeva
- Tathastu, a Hindi film (starring Sanjay Dutt and Ameesha Patel) that is an unofficial remake of John Q.
References
External links
- John Q. on IMDb
- John Q. at Rotten Tomatoes
- John Q. at Box Office Mojo
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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