John Q (2002)

I love this movie so much

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The acting in this movie is really good.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

This business about insurance companies ripping off people is so appropriate to our country and to the situation the GOP wants to take us back to. Health care for those that can pay for it and the heck with the rest. Here we are 16 years later and the same crap is going on. The ACA was a good start but all the GOP wants to repeal it. We need healthcare improved and made universal. Re-release it and make the GOP watches it.

When crafting a film like "John Q.", it would have been simple for director Nick Cassavetes to go the "simple route" and turn it into a simple hostage flick. Luckily for viewers, though, Cassavetes instead creates an incredibly nuanced movie that is casted about as perfectly as any film ever made.For a basic plot summary, "John Q." tells the story of John Archibald (Denzel Washington) and wife Denise (Kimberly Elise), who see their son Mikey (Daniel E. Smith) collapse at a Little League and require a new heart to live for much longer. The problem? The Archibalds do not have good enough insurance to cover the procedure, leading John to take matters into his own hands.This is one of my favorite movies of all-time because of its many nuances. The themes are very thought-provoking and very "grey"...no "black and white" heroes and villains here. As in real life, there are always other agendas that must be pieced together and reckoned with in order to understand any situation. The same goes for this movie. Is John the hero or the villain? It all depends on how you look at it. I love (and respect) films that are able to both entertain me and make me think about how the events on the screen relate to my own life.It only helps that this is perhaps the most perfectly-casted film in cinema history! Denzel is, of course, custom-made for his role, while auxiliary players like James Woods, Anne Heche, Ray Liotta, & Robert Duvall couldn't be better in the roles they play.Overall, "John Q." is a film that may just speak to you on a number of different levels (societal, personal, etc.). It also contains enough drama, action, and humor to be a well-rounded experience. If you are a fan of Denzel's work at all, or even just movies that will make you think, then this one should not be missed.

A father who has been paying his life insurance for years discovers that this company won't pay for the medical assistance of his dying son who needs an urgent heart transplant. Seeing that the hospital is making millions every years and that one operation would mean nothing to them, he tries to persuade them to make a benevolent act and help his son. When they refuse, he decides to lock himself inside the hospital armed with a gun and starts negotiating with the police to get what he won't get otherwise. While all this occurs, a TV channel is able to wire the cameras inside the hospital and the whole world is watching both sides of the story: a gunman who desperately wants to save his son, and the police department who wants to make sure that everyone gets out of there in one piece. I found the movie quite entertaining and again a great act by Denzel Washington who is beyond a doubt one of the best actors of his generation. You should enjoy especially knowing that such an act of craziness or faith is actually based on a true story!

If you want to know how to make a film which tells a story, makes several potent points, exposes how shabby life is, and sticks one in the eye of the establishment, then this does it, and has it, all. Super script, super storyline, super acting (across the board), goodies, baddies, and those who change their spots for us, and all packaged in a quite breathtaking order. It has suspense in oodles. It is superbly shot, superbly soundtracked, and cleverly stays completely focused on how morality is a political tool used against ordinary people.And this film hasn't aged a bit. It is as sharp and relevant now as it was when first released. It is worth any money to see simply because it is a lesson in the art of constructing a masterpiece that'll have us talking days after we have seen it.(Still) An excellent film.