Denzel Washington (Training Day,
Remember the Titans) plays John Quincy
Archibald, a husband and father trying desperately to make ends meet but just
always seeming to fall short with cash and unable to pay all of the bills.
Things get even worse when John's son Michael has a seizure as a result of an
enlarged heart. When John's insurance won't cover the cost of the heart
transplant the boy needs to survive, it's either raise the money himself or
watch his son die in short order. John tries everything he can, but the
hospital's board grows impatient and releases the boy despite John's
intentions, and John refuses to take no for an answer. Armed with a gun, John
takes Michael's doctor and some others in the ER hostage, refusing to give up
until his son gets put on the waiting list for the transplant.
Although the acting by Washington is as superb as you'd expect, his
performance is just not enough to carry this poorly developed and contrived
film into the realm of believability. The film starts off its plan of
manipulation by clever casting of it's one-dimensional characters. It's
certainly easy to take John's side since we like Denzel (usually the good guy)
as an actor and personality, his wife is loyal to the death, and his son
evokes nothing but lovable cuteness. Then throw in a cast of actors who are
known for playing connivers or egotists, such as James Woods (usually a bad
guy) as the schmoozy doctor, Anne Heche (incredibly annoying) as the ambitious
hospital administrator, and Ray Liotta (usually a bad guy) as the
politically-minded chief of police . And who would play the hostage
negotiator and sole man on the police force on John's side than Robert Duvall,
another actor we have high opinions of?
Now that John and family are the only sympathetic people in the film, let's
pour on more syrup on the film with the fact that the public is all on his
side as well, including almost all of the hostages. Follow up each scene with
contrivance after contrivance to further give voice to the movie's underlying
preachy nature, and if you're going to preach, you might as well go the
distance and wrap John and his family up as God-fearing folk who go to church
every Sunday and take time out to pray for a miracle in every scene. Had I a
sharp object at hand, I might have had inclination to offer up my heart up for
people who are far honorable, brave, noble and good than I ever could be.
In the end, John Q is completely manufactured hogwash -- an
expensive piece of pure propaganda disguised as entertainment with a message
that could have been compelling had the events seemed remotely close to what
might happen in reality. However, that message is one that practically
preaches to the choir, as who among us really would want to support a system
that allows children to die due to a lack of adequate insurance?
John Q is a film that isn't going to change an opinion out there
regarding the health care industry so much as it is a call for people to take
up arms whenever they feel abused by the system, and although not intending
to, the message that is ultimately delivered will probably deliver more harm
than good.
