John Q. (Infinifilm Edition)

John Q. (Infinifilm Edition)
by Nick Cassavetes

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DVD Cover Information

• TESTED OK
• 2002 DATE ON THIS DVD

Movie Reviews of John Q. (Infinifilm Edition)

Movie Review: How far would you go to save your child's life?
Summary: 5 Stars

Denzel Washington stars as John Q. Archibald who is a hard working family man trying his very best to keep his finances solvent and trying to make a better life for his family. It is discovered early on, while at his son's baseball game, that his son collapses and is diagnosed with a life threatening heart condition. The prognosis for his son is that he needs a heart transplant in a very short time. John Q discovers that his insurance policy does not cover the needed medical costs to have this operation take place and he is suddenly initiated into the unfair and cruel realities of our health system.

Anne Heche, who plays the consummate hospital administrator, tells John Q his son needs to placed on a list for heart recipients and that a heart transplant comes with an enormous cost which he cannot possibly afford. Almost devoid of sympathy and acting in a manner akin to a corporate CEO or policy maker or politician, the administrator's true interest here is the profit margin and having the correct type of insurance coverage or nothing at all. John Q is basically told that there is nothing that can be done for him whatsoever.

John Q pleads with the cardiologist (James Woods) to perform the operation and that he will raise the necessary funds and pay him any way that he can as soon as he can. The doctor basically tells him that he is out of options also and that his dying son will be discharged from the hospital very soon. John Q's distraught wife urges her husband to take some form of action immediately to save their son's life. Being forced into a corner with nowhere to turn, John Q decides to take control of the hospital (along with hostages) until an agreement can be made to help his son.

Ray Liotta and Robert Duvall star as police officers trying to diffuse the situation with each one of them having differing and conflicting ideas on how to terminate the hostage crisis. As the movie proceeds, you are able to see the interactions that unfold between John Q, his hostages, his family, and the police. It is a moving and emotional time leading ever closer to his son losing his battle to live. By what might be attributed to a miracle, the hospital receives word that a properly matched heart has been located and is flown to the hospital to save the son of John Q. A successful operation is perfomed which saves the life of his son, ends the hospital crisis, and subjects John Q to the legal system for the acts he has committed.

The actions of John Q, although criminal, were not borne out of machismo or malice or spite, but instead were acted out because of serious desperation and the deep love for his son and his desire for his son to have an equal chance to live a long, healthy, and prosperous life.

The main characters in this movie, Denzel Washington, James Woods, Robert Duvall, Ray Liotta, and Anne Heche, delivered excellent perfomances and made the movie very enjoyable. The plot does, at times, seem a little sensational or maybe a little too manufactured but it does not really deter from the true meaning of the movies message. This movie idealizes a loving father saving his son's life and having to fight an unjust health care system that should benefit all citizens but doesn't due to it's myriad problems and unfair practices.

I highly recommend this movie to everyone and would venture to say that it is probably one of Denzel Washington's best performances to date. Very enjoyable movie.

Summary of John Q. (Infinifilm Edition)

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
DVD ROM Features
DVD ROM exclusive web site
Deleted Scenes
Documentaries
Theatrical Trailer