| John Q | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Nick Cassavetes |
| Produced by | Mark Burg |
| Written by | James Kearns |
| Starring | Denzel Washington Robert Duvall James Woods Anne Heche Ray Liotta Eddie Griffin |
| Music by | Aaron Zigman |
| Cinematography | Rogier Stofers |
| Editing by | Dede Allen |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema (United States) Evolution Entertainment (international) |
| Release date(s) | February 15, 2002 |
| Running time | 116 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $36 million |
| Box office | $71,026,631 |
John Q is a 2002 American film directed by Nick Cassavetes. The film follows John Quincy Archibald (Denzel Washington), a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and then finds out he cannot receive a transplant because HMO insurance will not cover it. Therefore, he decides to take a hospital full of patients hostage until the hospital puts his son's name on the recipient's list.
The film also stars Robert Duvall, Anne Heche, James Woods, Ray Liotta and Eddie Griffin, among others. The film was shot in Toronto,[1] Hamilton, Ontario (ballpark scenes), and Canmore, Alberta,[2] although the story takes place in Chicago.
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As the film opens a young woman is recklessly driving a white BMW down a mountain highway. A slow-moving truck impedes her progress, and as she attempts to pass it on a blind curve a second truck looms in the oncoming lane and clips the woman's rear fender. The woman spins and comes to a stop in front of the first truck which broadsides her car and she dies (this whole ordeal is interspersed throughout the movie).
John Quincy Archibald (Denzel Washington) is with his wife Denise (Kimberly Elise) at his son's baseball game. As his son, Michael (Daniel E. Smith), runs around the bases and heads to second he grabs his chest and collapses. After a series of tests at the hospital John is informed by Dr. Raymond Turner (James Woods) and Rebecca Payne (Anne Heche), a hospital administrator, that Michael has an enlarged heart and will need a transplant. However because the company he works for dropped John from full-time (40+ hours) to part-time (20 hours), his health insurance has been changed from a PPO to an HMO, and the new policy does not cover the surgery, leaving them to raise 30% ($75,000) of the $250,000 in order to get their son's name on the list of likely recipients of an available heart. The family tries to raise the money by selling some of their possessions and helping out their neighbors, but are only able to raise about a third of the necessary payment. Eventually the hospital gets tired of waiting for payments and decides to release Michael. John's wife Denise tells him to do something about the situation after the hospital tells her about Michael's release. Unwilling to let his only child die, John decides it's time to take drastic measures. John walks into the hospital emergency room with a handgun and begins a hostage situation. He gathers the hostages and sets his demands: his son's name on the recipient list as soon as possible. The hostage negotiator, Lt. Frank Grimes (Robert Duvall), stands down to let John cool off.
Meanwhile, John and the 11 hostages communicate and learn more about each other. They begin to understand John's situation and support him a little as he ensures each of them receive the treatment they came to the emergency room for. One of them, Miriam (Troy Beyer), is pregnant, and her husband Steve (Troy Winbush) is hoping that their first kid is healthy. A young hostage, Julie (Heather Wahlquist), has a broken arm, and she and her boyfriend Mitch (Shawn Hatosy) claim that a car crash caused it, but due to some holes in their story (and the fact that Mitch's only injuries are scratches on his arm) John and another hostage, Lester (Eddie Griffin), are able to conclude that the two are lying and that Mitch had actually beat Julie up.
After a while John agrees to release some hostages (one is Miriam who is about to give birth and needs to go to the maternity ward) in return for his son's name being on the list an hour afterward. Miriam requests that Steve leave with her, but Steve only wishes for his wife and soon-to-be born child to go to safety. Mitch then says that he should go, and the two have an argument about who will leave. During the argument Mitch insults Steve and he, infuriated, starts to shove Mitch around. John intervenes, and Mitch, taking John by surprise, maces him with ethyl chloride, stabs him with a scalpel, and attempts to disarm him. John fights back and eventually loses his gun during the fight. Julie is ordered by Mitch to recover the gun, but instead, fed up with Mitch's abuse, picks up the ethyl chloride and maces him at super-close range. When Mitch angrily insults Julie for this, she retaliates by assaulting him (to everyone surprise and amusement) and then breaking up with him on the spot. John then takes some handcuffs from the security guard, Max (Ethan Suplee), and has Mitch handcuffed to a radiator. Then he releases Steve, Miriam and a hostage named Rosa (Martha Chaves) with her baby.
The Chicago Chief of Police, Gus Monroe (Ray Liotta), gives a SWAT unit permission to insert a sniper into the building via an air shaft. John speaks with his wife and son telling them that the situation will be alright, unaware that a hidden camera in the hospital has been hacked by a news crew and that his emotional conversation is being broadcast live on national television. John realizes the phone call is being broadcast and sees the sniper about to shoot him. John is shot but ends up receiving only a minor wound.
After taking the shot, the sniper's leg falls through the ceiling tiles and the outraged John pulls him out of the air shaft and beats him up. John's gunshot wound is treated by the emergency room staff and, using the bound SWAT policeman as a human shield, he steps outside to the sight of dozens of policemen pointing weapons at him as well as a large crowd gathered to support his cause. John demands that his son be brought to the emergency room, saying "I am not going to bury my son; my son is going to bury me!". The police agree to his demand in exchange for the SWAT sniper.
Once his son arrives, John reveals to the hostages his intention to commit suicide so his heart can be used to save his son. He persuades Dr. Turner to perform the operation, and two of his hostages bear witness to a will stating his last request. John goes to say his last good-byes to Michael and goes to the operating room where he reveals to the doctor and emergency room personnel that his gun was unloaded the entire time he held them hostage. John loads a single bullet into the gun and pulls the trigger but the safety is on. As he holds the gun to his own head a second time and prepares to end his life, his wife is told about a woman killed in a car crash, the one from the opening scene, who happens to have the same blood type as Michael, and has been flown to the hospital for organ recovery. She runs to the emergency room and stops John from shooting himself, and John allows the hostages to go free. Michael is given the life-saving operation and, after watching the procedure with Denise, John is taken into police custody. He is later acquitted of charges of attempted murder and armed criminal action but is found guilty of kidnapping. It is never revealed what his sentence for the crime will be but his lawyer is overheard saying that no judge will give him "more than three to five (years)" and that she will try and get it dropped to two.
In the final scene of the movie, John enters a police car to be taken away. As he is driven away, John's son runs through the crowd of people who have gathered at John's trial and goes onto the road. The police car drives by, and his son says "dad, thank you", and the son adopts poses that were done in earlier scenes in the movie.
In Blu-ray DVD commentary on the Deleted Scenes with Cassavetes and writer James Kearns, the main theme of the movie was said to be "about a miracle and John's faith in God creating the miracle". They also mentioned how SWAT team advisors for the film related a similar true incident in Toronto in which a man took an ER hostage after it wouldn't provide service to his son on New Year's Eve. When he exited the ER he was shot and killed and found to be carrying a toy gun.[3][4]
During shots of the news coverage surrounding the hostage situation in the hospital, a cameo by Senator Hillary Clinton occurs. Sen. Clinton argues for healthcare reform, especially in regards to cases like this one.
The film opened in first place at the box office, taking $23,275,194 during its first weekend. It ended up with a total domestic gross of $71,026,631.
The film received generally negative reviews, with a 22% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the consensus being "Washington's performance rises above the material, but John Q pounds the audience over the head with its message." However, reception from the Rotten Tomatoes community was fairly positive.[5] It also has a score of 30/100 ("generally unfavorable reviews") from Metacritic.[6]
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