I've been reading some reviews posted by movies.com and pretty much the best of the reviews states it as "decent". I'm not a movie critic but I thought it was a good movie... maybe not much lasting appeal or room for a sequel but it made me pretty sad, i've seen worse storylines, it wasn't boring, and overall I thoguht it was worth my time...
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Just finished watching john q... am I the only one that liked it?
- Thread starter Braves
- Start date
a movie that insults your intelligence😛
i agree with ebert.
BY ROGER EBERT
"John Q" is the kind of movie Mad magazine prays for. It is so earnest, so overwrought and so wildly implausible that it begs to be parodied. I agree with its message-- that the richest nation in history should be able to afford national health insurance--but the message is pounded in with such fevered melodrama, it's as slanted and manipulative as your average political commercial.
The film stars Denzel Washington as John Q. Archibald, a Chicago factory worker whose apparently healthy son collapses during a Little League game. John Q. and his wife Denise (Kimberly Elise) race the kid to an emergency room, where his signs are stabilized and then a cardiologist (James Woods) explains that young Mike's heart is three times normal size.
There are two options: a heart transplant, or optimizing Mike's "quality of life" during the "months ... weeks ... days" left to him. Joining the doctor is appropriately named hospital administrator Rebecca Payne (Anne Heche), who already knows the Archibalds have no money, and argues for the "quality of life" choice.
John Q. thinks he's covered by insurance, but no: His company switched to a new HMO that has a $20,000 ceiling, and since John has been downsized to 20 hours a week, he's lucky to have that much coverage. Payne demands a $75,000 down payment on the $250,000 operation, and explains the harsh realities of life for "cash patients." John Q. considers taking the kid to County Hospital, but is urged by a friendly hospital employee to stay right there at the ominously named Crisis of Hope Memorial Hospital.
The TV ads have already informed you that John Q. exhausts all his options and eventually pulls a gun and takes hostages, demanding that his son he put at the top of the list of eligible recipients. (He wouldn't be jumping the queue, because the Heche character explains that Mike is so sick, he would automatically be the first recipient--if the money were available.)
The hostages are your usual cross-section of supporting roles: a pregnant mother who has "started to dilate!," a gunshot victim, a battered woman and her violent boyfriend, and so on. Plus Dr. Turner. The cops surround the building, and veteran negotiator Grimes (Robert Duvall) tries to build a relationship with John Q., while hot-shot police chief Monroe (Ray Liotta) grandstands for the TV cameras-- displaying 16 stars on his uniform, four each on both collars and both lapels. Any more and he'd be Tinker Bell.
The underlying situation here is exactly the same as in "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975), an infinitely smarter hostage picture. What "John Q" lacks is the confidence to allow its characters to act intelligently. Chief Monroe is almost hilariously stupid. Consider this. A local TV station somehow manages to tap the police feed from the hospital's security cameras, and broadcasts live video and sound of John Q. inside the hospital. Monroe smuggles a sniper into the hospital who has John Q. in his sights. John Q. is in the act of having an emotional and heart-breaking telephone conversation with his little boy when Monroe, who is (a) unaware of the TV feed, or (b) too dumb to live, orders the marksman to fire.
Does John Q. die? That's a question you find yourself asking a lot during this film. To avoid spoilers, I won't go into detail, but there is a moment when the movie just plain cheats on the question of John Q.'s status, and I felt conned.
There are passages where the actors transcend the material. John Q.'s farewell to his son is one. Denise's relationship with her husband is well-handled. But in a sense special honors should go to Woods and Duvall for achieving what they can with roles so awkwardly written that their behavior whipsaws between good, evil and hilarious. Heche is deep- sixed by her role, which makes her a penny-pinching shrew and then gives her a cigarette to smoke just in case we missed that she's the villain. The Grim Reaper would flee from this woman.
i agree with ebert.
BY ROGER EBERT
"John Q" is the kind of movie Mad magazine prays for. It is so earnest, so overwrought and so wildly implausible that it begs to be parodied. I agree with its message-- that the richest nation in history should be able to afford national health insurance--but the message is pounded in with such fevered melodrama, it's as slanted and manipulative as your average political commercial.
The film stars Denzel Washington as John Q. Archibald, a Chicago factory worker whose apparently healthy son collapses during a Little League game. John Q. and his wife Denise (Kimberly Elise) race the kid to an emergency room, where his signs are stabilized and then a cardiologist (James Woods) explains that young Mike's heart is three times normal size.
There are two options: a heart transplant, or optimizing Mike's "quality of life" during the "months ... weeks ... days" left to him. Joining the doctor is appropriately named hospital administrator Rebecca Payne (Anne Heche), who already knows the Archibalds have no money, and argues for the "quality of life" choice.
John Q. thinks he's covered by insurance, but no: His company switched to a new HMO that has a $20,000 ceiling, and since John has been downsized to 20 hours a week, he's lucky to have that much coverage. Payne demands a $75,000 down payment on the $250,000 operation, and explains the harsh realities of life for "cash patients." John Q. considers taking the kid to County Hospital, but is urged by a friendly hospital employee to stay right there at the ominously named Crisis of Hope Memorial Hospital.
The TV ads have already informed you that John Q. exhausts all his options and eventually pulls a gun and takes hostages, demanding that his son he put at the top of the list of eligible recipients. (He wouldn't be jumping the queue, because the Heche character explains that Mike is so sick, he would automatically be the first recipient--if the money were available.)
The hostages are your usual cross-section of supporting roles: a pregnant mother who has "started to dilate!," a gunshot victim, a battered woman and her violent boyfriend, and so on. Plus Dr. Turner. The cops surround the building, and veteran negotiator Grimes (Robert Duvall) tries to build a relationship with John Q., while hot-shot police chief Monroe (Ray Liotta) grandstands for the TV cameras-- displaying 16 stars on his uniform, four each on both collars and both lapels. Any more and he'd be Tinker Bell.
The underlying situation here is exactly the same as in "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975), an infinitely smarter hostage picture. What "John Q" lacks is the confidence to allow its characters to act intelligently. Chief Monroe is almost hilariously stupid. Consider this. A local TV station somehow manages to tap the police feed from the hospital's security cameras, and broadcasts live video and sound of John Q. inside the hospital. Monroe smuggles a sniper into the hospital who has John Q. in his sights. John Q. is in the act of having an emotional and heart-breaking telephone conversation with his little boy when Monroe, who is (a) unaware of the TV feed, or (b) too dumb to live, orders the marksman to fire.
Does John Q. die? That's a question you find yourself asking a lot during this film. To avoid spoilers, I won't go into detail, but there is a moment when the movie just plain cheats on the question of John Q.'s status, and I felt conned.
There are passages where the actors transcend the material. John Q.'s farewell to his son is one. Denise's relationship with her husband is well-handled. But in a sense special honors should go to Woods and Duvall for achieving what they can with roles so awkwardly written that their behavior whipsaws between good, evil and hilarious. Heche is deep- sixed by her role, which makes her a penny-pinching shrew and then gives her a cigarette to smoke just in case we missed that she's the villain. The Grim Reaper would flee from this woman.
AdamDuritz99
Diamond Member
I enjoyed it and it was definantly worth my time and money to watch it. 🙂
peace
sean
peace
sean
spazntwich1
Banned
At then end of it, I said to myself, "Well, that was a horrible piece of leftist propaganda."
And it was.
And it was.
<< At then end of it, I said to myself, "Well, that was a horrible piece of leftist propaganda."
And it was. >>
It wasn't left and right, it was rich and poor, have and have-nots.
It was a good movie, somewhat predicable, as well as overacted. It was a good plot put IMO, could have been filmed/acted better.
Bignate603
Lifer
I thought it was good but they overplayed the "evil rich" a bit much
Ouch! John Q got hammered with a 'metascore' of only 22 out of 100 at metacritic.com. I guess the people who liked it must identify with being on the short end of the stick, or have medical issues, or like the John Q character. I hope noone condones the use of a gun - in a hospital of all places - in any way to justify John Q's actions. (He||, this is akin to strapping explosives to one's body and entering a Passover dinner.)
XZeroII
Lifer
I liked it, but I thought there was too much propeganda. I think people should be responsible for their own lives. If you are temporarily unemployed, then you should get some temporary coverage to help you out, or in extreme circumstances, but I don't think EVERYONE should get free healthcare. Personally, I think we spend too much money on the leeches on welfare. Not everyone on welfare is a leech, but there are quite a few, and I think they deserve to be out in the streets. This country was founded on the priniple that if you want to eat, you had to work. Simple as that.
*note*- Not everyone on welfare deserves to be out on the streets, just the leeches. I just want to make that clear...
*note*- Not everyone on welfare deserves to be out on the streets, just the leeches. I just want to make that clear...
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