Denzel
Washington, Robert Duvall, James Woods, Anne Heche, Ray Liotta
Directed by Nick Cassavettes
Trailer: Quicktime
How far would you go to save a loved one? This is the question
that for many of us thankfully will remain a hypothetical
pondering. However for John Archibald (Denzel Washington),
in the new Drama John Q the question drives him
to stage a high stakes crisis where life and death are the
only options.
Directed by Nick Cassavetes, John Q tells the
story of John Archibald and his family, wife Denise (Kimberly
Elise), and son Mike (Daniel E. Smith) as they struggle to
cope in difficult economic times. John is working part time
at his factory due to hours being cut, and his wife has just
started at a grocery store. Despite the financial hardships,
they are a loving and happy family who have good friends and
are respected by their congregation and community. Tragedy
strikes the family unexpectedly when Mike collapses during
a baseball game, and is discovered to have a failing heart
by the doctors attending him. It is revealed that short of
a transplant, Mike will not live much longer. The cost of
the transplant is a quarter of a million dollars, and John
is informed that his insurance will not cover the procedure.
Unwilling to let his only child die, John and Denise set about
contacting various relief and assistance agencies in an effort
to raise the money and save their son.
Desperate to pay the rising costs, the Archibalds soon take
to selling their possessions and accepting charity from their
congregation but it is still far too little as they are denied
assistance time after time by the bureaucracy. Desperate to
keep his son in the hospital after being informed of his pending
release due to lack of funds, John takes matters into his
own hands and takes the hospitals emergency room and
several people hostage. John has a very simple request, all
he wants is to have his sons name placed on the donor list
so that Mike might have a chance to live.
During the hostage standoff, John has to negotiate with veteran
police officer Grimes (Robert Duvall) who wants to end the
standoff quickly and quietly. The efforts are hampered by
the Chief of Police (Ray Liotta), who is more concerned about
election year politics and his media image than in doing what
is right for all parties involved. Further complicating the
situation are Rebecca Payne (Anne Heche), as a hospital administrator
more concerned with the bottom line than helping the public
and Dr. Turner (James Woods), as the surgeon that can save
Mike, but who is more concerned with policy and procedure
than the human issue at hand.
The hostages John holds are a mixed group including a Hispanic
mother, an expecting couple, an abusive rich snob and his
girlfriend, nurses and guards and a smooth operator know as
Lester (Eddie Griffin). It is the diversity of the group that
leads to some of the more memorable moments in the film as
the notion of health care in America is seen differently by
each member of the group, and the film avoids the racial issue
and instead relies more on the economic factors that for many
determine the type and quality medical care they can receive.
While the film is dramatic, it rarely seems forced or contrived
and the issues raised by the film are valid with no easy answers.
The film also takes steps to show the other side of the issue,
as while the bureaucracy is painted in a bad light, the audience
is given some of the reasons behind their actions and decisions.
The cast is very good and Washington and Woods give outstanding
performances without stepping on each others toes. The
ensemble cast works well and there is solid chemistry amongst
all the characters. Perhaps the most enjoyable things about
John Q other than the fact that it entertained,
was that it informed without preaching nor making broad generalizations.
The situation in the film was shown as what happened to one
family without making broad references about this sort of
situation happening to everyone. John Q is a well-made
and informative film that was a pleasant surprise.
4
out of 5
Gareth Von Kallenbach
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