Seems like we're getting back on an even keel with the rating viewings now. Quite liking the new pag...
Seems like we're getting back on an even keel with the rating viewings now. Quite liking the new pages in a way. Thanks for all your rates.
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Here in the UK, we have the NHS. It means that, for a lot of things, we are automatically covered, medically speaking. Sure, it relies on a few other things such as National Insurance, but I don't profess to be an expert. Far from it. John Q is a 2002 film that focuses on the disadvantages of not being medically covered for something, over in the States, as Denzel Washington's John Q Archibald fights with every fibre of his being to save his son's life against all odds.
Director Nick Cassavetes gives us a powerful film that focuses on health care, corruption, pen-pushers and the power of love. When Mike Archibald (Daniel E Smith) collapses from near heart failure at a baseball game, his father John (Washington) and mother Denise (Kimberley Elise) rush him to hospital, where they are told he will need a heart transplant to save his life. However, this is an expensive procedure, and the Archibalds' health insurance won't cover it. As desperation sets in and Mike's health deteriorates rapidly, John takes the ER and its patients and staff hostage, demanding that Mike be put on the list and the heart be replaced.
In many ways, the film doesn't do anything special. The emergence of Ray Liotta and Robert Duvall as the police bigwigs assigned to negotiate with John are curiously placed, seeming to be a strange pair of actors to be cast. I wasn't impressed. Anne Heche plays hospital administrator Rebecca Payne, and does so quite well, while James Woods is solid as heart surgeon Raymond Turner. But the star of the show is Denzel Washington. Time after time he steals the show from other actors and actresses, and his on screen charisma is present once more.
We don't really see much action until Q takes the ER. Up until then, we see the rallying of a local community to raise funds to pay for the heart transplant, and the hospital is painted as the villainous element, with everyone else portrayed as heroes. This sat well with me to a certain extent, but on the whole it was a little too much by the end of it. The methods of the lead character were essentially illegal, and as such Washington shows us the mindset of a character who has reached breaking point and has decided there's no turning back. His performance is as compelling as Liotta and Duvall's is misplaced.
Cassavetes has filmed this very well, and uses the differing characters stuck in the ER to provide us with just about every stereotype going, all of whom sing from the same hymn book, showing unity in the face of initial terror. What is perhaps best about the film is that it seems rather effortless in so many ways, and this is a testament to careful work inf ront of and behind the camera.
Overall, it's a well made film that for some reason didn't wow me. I was very impressed on the whole with a lot of it, but some elements were curiously disappointing. The DVD is currently available from amazon.co.uk for around the £3 mark.
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Drama - Director: Kevin Smith - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, George Carlin, Jennifer Lopez, Jason Biggs, Matt Damon
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 2002 - Drama - Director: Michael Caton-Jones - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Robert De Niro, Frances McDormand, James Franco, Eliza Dushku, William Forsythe, George Dzundza, Patti Lupone
A nine-year-old boy is in desperate need of a life-saving transplant. When his father ... more
John Q. Archibald (Denzel Washington) discovers that his medical insurance won’t cover the costs of the surgery and alternative government aid is unavailable ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
John Q. (Academy Award-winner Denzel Washington) is an ordinary man who works at a factory ... more
and takes care of his family. His wife Denise and young son Michael are his world. But when Michael falls seriously ill and needs an emergency heart transplant t...
Advantages: Denzel Washington is his usual brilliant self. Thought provoking, and exciting, movie, about a highly contentious and controversial topic. Disadvantages: Not a lot
the_mad_cabbie 28.12.2002 (28.12.2002)
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Review of John Q. (DVD)
![John Q. [DVD] [2002]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78530786.jpg "John Q. [DVD] [2002]")
Mar 31st, 2009
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